Flash
by serullian
Summary: Nothing is ever complicated for Lucy, she lives a very normal and quiet life, with the exception she has a double life as model. It gets even more complicated when she has to model with a guy she hates, Natsu… AU and OCC
1. A partner to hate

**-Hi! Serullian here, this is my first fanfic. Hope you like it! Don't forget to review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Although I wish I did…**

Chapter 1: A partner to hate

"Alright next pose, Thank you," The photographer said. More flashes appeared from the camera.

The brunette shifted positions and smiled seductively for the camera.

She was dressed in a red satin bubble dress. The hem of the dress was black all around and she wore the dress with black ankle boots. She showed off the black purse along with the outfit.

Her fake brown hair was dressed in simple curls and she wore little make-up showing off her natural beauty.

Some more flashes showered upon her as she moved from pose to pose.

Behind her was a simple white background; it accentuated the red dress and black shoes.

She twirled and made herself look devious, secretive, elegant and of course seductive.

"Thank you Layla, it was a pleasure working with you" The photographer finished.

"Likewise"

Layla was a pen name. Layla was disguise whenever she modeled. In reality Layla was actually Lucy and Lucy was actually a blonde.

In school, at home, with friends or in public she was Lucy. Lucy Heartfillia.

At fancy parties, work and during times that weren't avoidable she was Layla. Just Layla.

The only people who know about her double life are her best friend and modeling partner, Erza Scarlet, who doesn't have a secret identity.

And her friend and manager, Mirajane Strauss. She's the one who makes the lies and excuses when Layla interrupts Lucy's life.

Lucy sighed as she walked to her dressing room. She took off the make-up and the dress and she tried getting the curls out of her wig with no success.

She wasn't able to take off the wig until she left the studio.

Layla sighed again.

* * *

The next morning Lucy dressed in the uniform, a plaid skirt, white blouse and Lucy chose to wear a sweater vest. She left her apartment to see her scarlet-haired friend in front of her door waiting for her.

"Morning" Lucy called out.

"Hey Lucy"

They exited the building and headed off to school.

"So how was work?" Erza asked.

"It was okay, it's boring being alone though" Lucy answered.

"Sorry I was busy" Erza said, "I know were not that popular but I still don't understand why you have Layla in the first place"

"We've been through this, I just want a normal peaceful life"

"And normal is having two identities?"

"Oh shut up" Lucy said, "besides if I tell the world now I will be hounded by paparazzi"

"You get that treatment when you're with me or Mirajane"

"They don't go after you because you just break their camera"

"Mirajane?" Erza asked.

"I don't know how she does it but they don't stalk her" Lucy simply replied, "When I'm Layla I'm followed everywhere, I'm not beautiful and strong like you or beautiful and cunning like Mira"

They got to Magnolia Academy a prestigious high school. It has high security due to some kids being or slightly famous.

"And besides I don't have time to be shrouded by paparazzi I have to maintain my scholarship, end of discussion" Lucy concluded.

Lucy and Erza walked to their first period class. Most students were in groups chatting away. Some were finishing last nights homework and others were… studying their eyelids.

"Erza, Lu-chan" Blue haired – Levy McGarden said, "Lucy I texted you if you did question 13 in the math"

Lucy pulled her phone out and checked it.

_3 missed calls, 5 missed texts_

"Oh crap! I turned my phone off for work and forgot to turn it back on"

"Seriously Lucy, I want to know what you do" Levy insisted.

"Seriously Levy, stop asking" Lucy said in the same manner as Levy.

Levy pouted and grumbled but stayed quiet.

Mirajane walked into class with her siblings. They said hi to each other and then started a random conversation.

When the bell rung they took their seats. Mirajane handed a note to Lucy.

_6 – 2 – 5 _

It was a code for her work. The first number was _6 _meaning the sixth day of the week – Friday. The second number "_2"_ meant it was a shoot with a partner. If it had been _E _then it meant it was Erza. And the last number meant it started at five.

She nodded. They would talk about who her partner would be later when they were alone.

The teacher started taking attendance,

"Alberona, Cana" Gildarts said. They were father and daughter and only slight favoritism occurs in special situations.

Gildarts went down the list, "Dragneel, Natsu…Fernandes, Jellal… Fullbuster, Gray… Heartfillia, Lucy… Locksar, Juvia… McGarden, Levy… Redfox, Gajeel… Scarlet, Erza… Strauss, Elfman, Strauss, Lisanna, Strauss, Mirajane…"

"So the only one absent is Natsu…" Gildarts summarized.

"Or that dumbass is late" Gray commented, which gained him some laughs, "like always"

The class started and they learned they would soon get a project. They read a text and then wrote a small reflective response. At the end of class, they were given the last ten minutes to talk.

Natsu finally walked in to class nonchalantly as if he wasn't late or better yet hadn't missed the class at all.

His uniform was sloppy, his jacket wasn't buttoned, his tie was loose and he still had his signature white scaly scarf

It was also obvious that Natsu was in a bad mood as he grumbled all the way to his desk.

"Oi! Pinky, what the hell is wrong with you?" Gray asked, not really caring, "You know a part from the fact that you're stupid, ugly, weak – " and Natsu punched him in the face.

"Natsu what are you doing?" Lucy scolded him.

"Shut up Lucy, I'm not in the mood for your annoyingness" Natsu insulted.

"Excuse-me?"

"That's right"

Truth be told, Natsu and Lucy never really got along. They were complete opposites.

Natsu was loud, Lucy liked a quiet life. Natsu preferred sports, Lucy preferred books. Lucy was a good student, Natsu's… always late.

Even their social status was completely different.

Lucy lived alone in a small apartment. She had to work hard to keep her scholarship and she worked as a model known as "Layla" for money.

Natsu lived in a mansion. He was laid-back and could get into any school he wanted because he had a lot of money. His dad was a very successful CEO of many different companies.

"Yah? Well no one needs your stupidity but you show up to school anyways" Lucy retaliated.

Natsu rolled his eyes, "Ugh I have to deal with my stupid dad and you in the morning"

"Why what did your Dad do?" Lisanna asked.

"My dad is making me do a _modeling_ shoot"

Gray, who was knocked out a couple of minutes ago, woke up and fell down laughing when he heard Natsu was doing a photo shoot.

"Ha! You have to model," Lucy teased which was sort of hypocritical.

"Yo squinty eyes, bring some money, with your looks you're going to break their camera" Gray laughed and earned a high-five from Lucy.

"Shut the fuck up!" Natsu yelled at them, "Not only that, I lose my Friday because of this shoot"

Suddenly Lucy became interestedly nervous, "D-do you have a partner?"

Natsu looked at her quizzically, "How'd you know? It's a girl named Layla"

Lucy's heart dropped.

**A/N Ta da! Hope you liked it. **

**So I have big hopes for this story and have a bunch of ideas. Also, I will hate myself forever if for whatever reason stop writing (unless it's a good one, like I don't know I get hit by a car :| ). **

**Hopefully I will not get struck with the infamous, Writers Block , but don't worry, "Never Stop! Fight the Block!"**

**Please review!**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	2. Insults

**Yay! The second chapter is up! Hope you guys like it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

Chapter 2: insults

_Previously…_

"_Shut the fuck up!" Natsu yelled at them, "Not only that, I lose my Friday because of this shoot"_

_Suddenly Lucy became interestedly nervous, "D-do you have a partner?"_

_Natsu looked at her quizzically, "How'd you know? It's a girl named Layla"_

_Lucy's heart dropped._

* * *

"Mira! This is bad, really bad" Lucy panicked, "Why'd you set me up with him? You know very well we don't get along… I can't stand that jerk," she added loudly as if she were trying to tell everyone who was near her.

"Sorry, I was going to tell you I didn't know who it was. Back in F.T agency all they told me it was a "very desirable man to most girls"

F.T Agency – Fairy Tail Agency, was the agency the girls worked at. It wasn't just for modeling, anything for show business like acting, singing et cetera.

"Edward and Jacob are very desirable men to most girls and yet I'm still not one of those people," Lucy pointed out.

"Lucy calm down, if you're careful he'll never know your secret" Erza tried comforting her.

It was lunch and the girls were in the shade faraway from everyone after they finished eating their lunch.

"Although I am worried about that, it's not my biggest concern. It's the fact that I have to work with him and act okay about it" Lucy told them, "I mean he's done something to Lucy, not Layla"

"Just be careful, I'll be in my office with Erza, if anything goes wrong just call" Mirajane offered.

"Yeah, we'll meet you after the photo shoot, I mean everyone already knows we work with you… or er… Layla"

Lucy hesitated in taking their offer, "no it's okay, you don't have to do that, you guys have lives outside of Fairy Tail, I don't want to keep you guys in there"

"It's okay Lucy, I have my own shoot their also" Erza said.

"And I have to be there for a meeting anyways"

Lucy still hesitated, "Fine" and she walked away when the bell rung.

"Actually, I'm only staying to see what happened during her photo shoot" Mira said truthfully.

"Same"

* * *

They got to class and as usual Natsu was late.

Lucy rolled her eyes, _why am I not surprised?_

"Stupid stripper, making me late" Natsu cursed under his breath.

"Of course blame Gray for your fighting" Lucy said, "never taking responsibility for yourself"

"If normal girls are like you then I don't want to even think of what that Layla-chick might be like" Natsu moaned.

"What are you saying?" Lucy demanded.

"That she's probably a little slut, snobby and demanding," Natsu stated, "Just like you, just famous and richer"

"Good description of yourself"

"Were you always this stupid or are you just making a special effort today?"

Lucy gave him a fierce look, "You don't even know Layla, how could you possibly say stuff like that?"

"My vocal chords allow me to" Natsu said, "Besides you don't know her either, how could _you_ say stuff like that"

"I-I uh… E-Erza and Mira" Lucy lied, "they tell me about her"

Laxus told everyone to take a seat and class started.

* * *

Lucy, Erza, Natsu and Gray were outside in front of the school. Mirajane and her siblings left the school already.

"Bye Everyone!" Levy waved good-bye.

Natsu and Gray were physically fighting and Erza used her demonic aura to stop them.

Lucy was waiting for Erza who just wanted to relax and take her time.

"What is taking Wendy so long?" Lucy wondered out loud.

"I bet she's with Romeo" came from Gray.

"What? No I won't allow it" Natsu said protectively.

A little girl with dark blue hair came running with a backpack filled to the point where it could explode.

"Sorry everyone, I had trouble with my lesson, so I went back to my teacher" Wendy apologized.

"See Lucy, that's how a person should act, they should apologize when they need to and get help when it's needed" Natsu insulted.

"Okay, I await your apology"

"I'm pretty sure I said _when they need to_"

"You know what Natsu? You have your entire life to be a jerk, take a day off, I could really use it"

"Lucy I say this because I don't like you, please die in hole," Natsu instructed.

"Natsu, you know there isn't a vaccine for stupidity"

"That must suck for you, hope it's not contagious"

"Shut up! I feel really bad for Layla now"

"Oh please she's going to see my handsome and sexy features and she going to fall for me"

Lucy made a vomiting noise.

"You know what? I'll prove it you" Natsu grabbed her bag and took out her phone. He found her cell phone number and plugged it into his phone, "You'll see, Layla is actually a bitch that only acts like that because it's her reputation"

When he gave her back her bag and phone she whacked him hard and walked away yelling, "JERK"

* * *

It was Thursday and Lucy was not looking forward to the next day.

She dressed in the uniform and headed out. She walked alone that morning and Lucy realized she was going to be late.

She arrived at the gates and so did a sleek black car. A certain pink haired man she hates came out.

"You just ruined my morning" Lucy called out angrily.

"You also ruined mine. Lucy did you know you're pretty…" he paused for effect, "Fucking ugly?""

"I bet you were up all night trying to come up that one"

"I'm trying to think of a compliment, but somehow nothing comes to mind"

"OMG, Natsu? Thinking? The apocalypse must be coming," Lucy retorted.

"Lucy, I'm busy, can I ignore you some other time?"

"Natsu you're a dumbass" the blonde snapped.

"Yah? And you're the reason why god created the middle finger, what else are we gonna state?"

Lucy was very offended. She was normally insulted by every insult or comeback that were better then hers but lately because since she will be working with him soon she decided not to go any further or else lingering hatred will affect her performance as Layla.

She walked faster in order to get away from him.

* * *

"Oh Lucy! I have something to tell you" Mirajane said, "it's about the theme for tomorrow"

Erza, who also wanted to listen to their conversation, leaned in.

"Okay, your role in tomorrows photo shoot is, "_angel turned evil_". I will let you decide how to interpret that"

As Lucy left to take her seat Erza and Mira started to gossip.

"Ooh, I can't wait to see what happens now" Erza said.

"Yeah me too, I also left out a small piece of information" Mira smiled deviously.

* * *

The next day was the day Lucy dreaded the most. She went to school and when it finally ended she came to the agency as fast as she could.

She was going to keep her secret, definitely.

**A/N: Hey! So as you know this is my first fanfic, after I posted the first chapter I got a lot more reviews then I thought I would get and I was overjoyed. You have no idea I couldn't stop smiling the entire time and I was so excited reading them, so I absolutely thank everyone who reviewed, favourited and alerted. You guys are awesome!**

**Don't forget to review!**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	3. Angel turned Evil

**Hey guys! Thanks to all who reviewed my story. I appreciate it very much :3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

Chapter 3: Angel turned Evil

_Previously…_

_The next day was the day Lucy dreaded the most. She went to school and when it finally ended she came to the agency as fast as she could._

_She was going to keep her secret, definitely._

* * *

~ Lucy's POV

I was in my dressing room. There were racks filled with clothes, dresses, skirts, pants and shirts but only one caught my eye; the outfit I would use for tonight's photo shoot.

A large vanity table was against a wall and a mountain of make-up lay on top of it.

It's weird because half the time I don't even use make-up.

On the other side of the room was a regular table with refreshments such as water bottles, juice and other snacks.

I was sitting in my chair, with a cold wet cloth on my forehead.

This day wasn't ending quickly enough.

Honestly of all the people to be paired with.

Mirajane told me to endure it because Natsu was a lot more famous then I was. Meaning that if the shoot goes well, my popularity would grow and I'll get more offers for other photo shoots.

I was still in my uniform and I have my brown wig on but messily, blonde strands sticking out everywhere. Still it was only 4:15 and the photo shoot didn't start until 5:00, so it doesn't really matter.

Unless someone rudely comes in and sees Layla in some random school uniform, I can always just say I was cosplaying or something I mean Layla is a model, it's not that weird.

I'll admit it's a little reckless and careless and if anyone discovered my secret because of my actions, it's definitely irresponsible but I honestly can't focus when it comes to Natsu. Man he just pisses me off so much! I can't stand him. Just thinking about him annoys me.

And now I have to work with him and I have to act nice to him because he doesn't know who "Layla" is.

My cell phone started ringing and I picked it up, "Hello, this is Lucy". I actually have two phones one for Layla and one for me.

"Yo! This is Natsu"

"How'd you get my number?" I shrieked.

"Wow, you have a terrible memory, remember yesterday I grabbed your bag and put your number in mine"

"So what do you want then?"

"I'm going to prove to you that Layla is actually a slutty person"

I jumped from my chair, the wet cloth falling off of me.

"How are you going to that" I quickly dashed for the door. I pressed my ear on it and tried listening for any footsteps.

I heard nothing but I do remember the door opening and crashing into my head.

"I'm just going to go in her dressing ro…om?"

My cell phone goes flying after the door sucker punches me. Not only that, but I'm still in my Magnolia academy uniform. And worst of all, my wig falls off.

"Layla, Lucy. Layla? Lucy?" Natsu questioned, "Brown, blonde, always sticks up for her…"

He laughed as I rubbed my forehead.

"Wow, I must be really stupid like everyone says" Natsu continued to laugh.

My world crashed down on me. I honestly felt like crying. I'm not as bright as people think… obviously.

After pushing away that jerk, I fell to ground and the tears started to fall.

I didn't even know why they were falling.

It took a while before the downpour stopped. And even when it finished I didn't want to move let alone work.

Around an hour later I finally got dressed into the outfit.

It was white dress. In the front it started at the mid thighs but in the back it ended at the knees. The dress was layered and there was a brown loose belt at the waist. I wore gladiator sandals and to have the "evil" in my outfit was a black scarf around my neck.

I wore my brown wig properly and called the stylist to do her magic.

She put shiny lip-gloss on and light mascara. She brushed my hair and said, "An angel is a natural being. Your partner shouldn't have any rules and must be wild".

I didn't really understand.

I took a breath before heading to the studio.

Today or rather tonight, the photo shoot was being taken outside on the roof.

1) For the natural wind.

2) For the scenery. F.T agency is a very tall building that has an amazing view.

3) For the colours. The photo shoot supposed to start around five but my unexpected breakdown caused a small delay however we still have the beautiful sunset.

Natsu was already on set. He was doing an individual shoot. We'd soon do one together and then I'd do one alone as well.

Natsu was dressed in a red dress shirt with a black vest that was not buttoned up. He wore black dress pants and black dress shoes. His pink hair wasn't tamed anymore then it usually was and for some reason they allowed him to wear his white scarf.

He looked really hot.

Someone punch me in the face, I did not just think that.

"Ah! Layla, I see you're all better" The photographer said.

"Yes, thank you. I apologize for delaying the shoot," I politely said like a professional.

"No, no your health must certainly comes before your work, you should never overwork yourself" he advised, "Well if you're feeling up to it, please get together with Mr. Dragneel"

I walked over to him.

"Listen Lu –Layla…"

I put my second finger over my lips hinting for him to shut up. We can't talk about it now of all times and of all places. Besides I can't think about that now, I have to focus on my work.

We socialized and talked a bit, while pictures were being taken. In other words we fought a lot but very quietly while pictures were being taken making us look like were friends. Those types of pictures give an idea of when to use the outfits.

Then we got into some actual poses.

Mira told me that my theme is an "Angel turned Evil".

Why? Why would an angel turn evil?

The angel could be controlled.

I put my back towards his back, while he looked to the sky and I looked at the ground, the wind created a really nice effect.

The picture made me look like I was sad and trapped it made Natsu look like his true intentions to do with an "angel" weren't revealed yet.

Another reason why an angel would turn evil…

The angel could be faking. Acting like she's on the bad side.

I jumped on his back. He gave a perfect reaction.

The picture with me on him looked like I was toying with evil, and Natsu made it look like they never suspected a thing. He gave that "WTF?" look.

Priceless.

One last reason why.

_You're partner shouldn't have any rules and must be wild_

An angel would turn evil if… she fell in love with a devil. Natsu was the devil. I shifted uncomfortably at this thought.

Mirajane only told me what I was being, not what Natsu was going to be.

I sucked it up. My job is what's important now.

I grabbed his hands and I put them on my waist. I tried deciding which emotions to use.

If I chose to be seductive then I grab his scarf and play around with it, I mean I'm already in his arms.

I blushed when I realized that. I buried my head in chest; my face heating up and turning red was not something I wanted on camera especially with this jerk.

I calmed down and decided to be the "natural" angel I'm supposed to be. The natural me would be kind of shy.

I put my hands on his chest and an innocent blush crept onto my face. I couldn't look at him so I looked at my hands instead.

Natsu played his part as well, he held me close and he smiled caringly.

The devil that fell in love with an angel.

**A/N: I really liked writing this chapter. It was fun. Hoped you like it :)**

**Please review.**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	4. A ride home

**Hey! Sorry for not updating sooner, I went to Ontario, Toronto and I went to Canada's Wonderland! It was so much fun :D**

**Also I received a couple of comments saying the chapters should be longer. I'm pretty sure we all want the chapters to be longer, including me, so I will do my best to make it happen :)**

**I guess it wasn't clear, but yes, Natsu found Lucy's secret.**

**Anyways, here you go, Chapter 4 :9 **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

Chapter 4: A ride home

_Previously…_

_I put my hands on his chest and an innocent blush crept onto my face. I couldn't look at him so I looked at my hands instead._

_Natsu played his part as well, he held me close and he smiled caringly._

_The devil that fell in love with an angel._

* * *

~ Lucy's POV

"Alright, Layla-san that's a wrap"

"No need to add the _san_, were a family here at Fairy Tail," I said. I don't like it when people use the honorific _san _with me. Lucy-san or Layla-san, no thank you.

It was finally over. Everything was over. The day, work and more specifically work with Natsu. About twenty minutes ago, my photo shoot with Natsu ended. Thank God, I'm so embarrassed because of what I did.

Too bad I have to confront him since he figured out my secret.

… He found out my secret…

I walked downstairs and saw Mirajane and Erza waiting for me. Erza was leaning on the wall and looking at her cell phone whereas Mira looked like she was going to explode of excitement.

"Mirajane, calm down Layla should be finished soon" I heard Erza say to Mirajane.

They did say they would meet after I finished my shoot.

The moment I came into their view Mira asked eagerly, "So Layla how did it go?"

"Hi to you to Mira" I said sarcastically. Honestly, where are the greeting nowadays? "It went…" Let's see, first he walked into my dressing room and figured out my secret, then I cried a bit due to stress – I think. Then I was in his arms, chest and on his back… "…It could have been better"

We started heading towards my dressing room.

"No" My manager said sternly, "Details, I want d-e-t-a-i-l-s, details!"

"I'd rather not talk about it here, right now or ever as a matter of fact" I said focusing on getting this outfit off of me and leaving the building. I removed the black scarf already and held it in my hands.

"Layla common I really want to know" Mira whined, "Please tell me! Pwease!"

I blinked at the way she please. We all knew it was coming…

I snapped out of confusion and retaliated, "Hey, you didn't tell me what Natsu was supposed to be during this session"

We got to my changing room.

"I didn't do anything to you, why can't I know?" Erza cut in.

Mira gasped, "Erza you traitor!"

"Don't worry Mirajane I'll tell you later" The red head winked.

Did they not realize I'm still here? Whatever, I don't really want to talk about it now I just want to go home!

"You know what, tomorrows Saturday, why don't we meet up or something, I'm too tired to do anything right now" I proposed.

Mira pouted, "But-"

"Mira, I guarantee you're going to like the story, for the most part that is. All you have to do is wait until tomorrow"

I could tell Mirajane was reluctant but she agreed to it anyways.

We said bye to each other and they left, heading towards Mira's office. I entered my changing room and I got rid of the dress. I hung it nicely and noticed some past outfits that I wore.

Those were the simpler times, when I didn't have a partner I strongly disliked.

I put my school uniform back on and I covered it with a large jacket.

I yawned and yet it was only 7:30.

I sat on the chair and put back the wet cloth. It was a long day I just want to relax.

I heard knocking on my door and I replied with a "come in".

The pink-haired idiot returned and opened the door. He walked in and I noticed he wasn't in his photo shoot clothes or his uniform. Natsu had a black shirt on and green baggy pants, let's not forget his white, signature scarf.

He, no longer was the devil and I was no longer the angel.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked very distressed.

"I had things to do downstairs…"

Natsu Dragneel is someone I hate very much. He's annoying, stupid and very aggravating. Normally Natsu's words piss me off and his actions make me want to kill him forty times using forty different ways.

There is definitely no way on earth that I would/ could/ should trust him. Why did he find out?

You better not say I was irresponsible.

I already know I am! I just don't want to hear it.

"Natsu… I uh have a favor to ask you…" I started. No matter how much I hate him, I need his help now.

Natsu acted surprised. I could tell he knew what I was going to ask but he acted like he had no idea.

"You know my secret… "

"Secret…? I know many secrets, which one are we talking about?" He said.

Can I give him a concussion? He's bound to get amnesia eventually.

"Earlier today, you waltzed into Layla's dressing room…"

"Oh yeah… Hey you want to know something? Layla is fake!" He whispered.

"NATSU! Can you just cooperate for once?" I screamed. I'm going to break down soon. "You know what secret I'm talking about, and you know exactly what I want"

"You want me to keep your secret safe, yeah I realized that" Natsu said not really caring for my out-burst.

"Will you?"

"I don't know," he said simply "I don't get why you want it to be kept in the first place"

"I have reasons and of all people to know them, you definitely aren't one of them" I asserted.

"Oh, that makes me want to keep it even more" Natsu sarcastically said.

"I'll do anything if you swear you'll keep it a secret," I promised.

"Anything?"

"Yes"

"If I asked for a hundred dollars?"

"You're gonna have to wait but I can do that"

"What if I ordered you to become my maid?"

I paused. "Fine, as long you keep my secret"

"I like where this is going, so what would happen if I make you my maid, but the next day, the papers contain the truth"

That's when I snapped. "I. Hate. You. I really do. You can tell this is very important to me, so why can't you help me out?"

"It's very obvious you don't trust me in the first place"

"I'm willing to if you give me your word that you will keep it," I exasperatedly said "you know what? Never mind, I'm not going to do anything, ok? I honestly don't want to be stressed by a threat you may or may not pull through"

"So you're saying I have control of whether I do or don't say it right?"

I gave him a disgusted look.

"Erza and Mirajane are the only ones who know it, right?"

I nodded, "when I tell them you'll be forced to keep it a secret anyways"

He looked at me confused.

"I don't know when I'll tell them… When I decide I'll tell you. Be prepared for Erza's wrath. In the mean time _please _keep it a secret" I added.

* * *

Natsu followed me outside. It didn't really matter since his car was in front anyways.

"So how are you getting home?" He asked.

"Um, I'm going to walk" I stated like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"Seriously? At this hour?"

I looked at my phone; it was already 8:00. I sighed.

"I don't have any other way" the busses don't run at this time. Or at least the ones that transport me from the agency to my apartment.

"If you give me twenty bucks I'll drive you home" Natsu offered.

I declined, "no I rather take a cab even if it costs me more money"

"That's terrible budgeting"

"Well… I don't want you knowing where I live… that's creepy"

"Okay you have two choices" Natsu said, "One I take you home, but you give me twenty bucks or two, you walk home at night, in this dark hour, alone, easy target to rape…"

"Easy-target?"

"Oh common, look you've still got part of your make-up on and you haven't taken off your wig yet" Natsu reasoned, "Honestly, who wouldn't want to fuck Layla the model?"

I flinched at the way he said it.

"I know self defense"

"But I doubt you could use it in that scenario, you're mind will be clouded with panic and you're gonna forget all of that "self defense" you know"

"You sound like you're experienced" I laughed at him.

"A ride for twenty bucks, take it or be raped"

"Fine, but I'm not giving you money," I said quietly.

His car was black, shiny and new Lamborghini. I was really repulsed by it.

Just a week ago he had a silver one, then when he left during lunch he came back with a blue one.

How many cars does he need until he's satisfied?

I mean I was perfectly fine walking home in the dark… that is until rape came into my mind.

I got in and buckled my seat belt, "Just take me to the school, I'll walk the rest"

"No I'm taking you all the way," Natsu said.

"I don't argue with idiots, they will just lower me to their level then beat me with experience"

"I still want my twenty"

I rolled my eyes, "I don't have a twenty. I've got…" I rummaged through my wallet, "A five" I held it out to show him proof.

He grabbed it and put it in his pocket, "Okay you owe me fifteen". He drove out of the parking lot and headed in the direction of our school.

"Seriously?"

"I have to pay for gas, my car needs more if I'm driving a lot more weight then usual"

I hit his arm, even if he was driving.

"Hey watch it, your life is in my hands"

"Then don't say things that will make me want to strangle you"

There was a silence and then "I still don't know where you live" came from Natsu.

"And I want to keep it that way, so just drop me off at the school, my apartment is on Magnolia, okay it's not that far"

"How close?" He asked his eyes were still on the road.

"I don't know, walking distance it's like a twenty minute walk"

Natsu drove past the school and I protested.

He drove me all the way in front of an apartment building, my apartment building.

"This is your stop isn't it?" He questioned

"How'd you know?"

"You said you lived near the school and on Magnolia, this matches the description" He explained, "It's the closest apartment building to the school"

I don't know why but he seems a lot smarter then before.

I got out of the car and said, "Thanks for the ride… and please keep it a secret"

He shrugged, "you still owe me fifteen dollars"

I slammed the car door and he drove away.

It's funny, only Natsu can change my moods in an instant.

Not that that's a good thing…

**A/N: Wah! Finally I finished this chapter! I wrote this chapter and re-wrote it a crap-load of times. Then it took a while for me to edit it into something I was pleased with.**

**I then did my best to make a little longer with little success. And then I edited it again.**

**So many different versions of chapter four… This one was quite hard to write.**

**I have issues with this chapter -.- and their argument surprises even me but look forward to the next chapter**

**Fun fact about this story: I absolutely hated writing this specific chapter so far!**

**Hopefully my efforts were good enough and you like chapter. Please review.**

**Thank you!  
**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	5. Gossip

**Wahoo! Chapter 4 has ended, everyone rejoice… that's right I still dislike that chapter greatly! But writing chapter 5 was fun :D**

**Please do enjoy this chapter and I'd appreciate some reviews. Thank you. (lol)**

**I do not own Fairy Tail**

Chapter 5: Gossip

_Previously…_

_I slammed the car door and he drove away._

_It's funny, only Natsu can change my moods in an instant. _

_Not that that's a good thing…_

~ Normal POV

"So, how was it?" the white haired manager asked. She leaned in intently.

It was a Saturday afternoon and Lucy, Levy, Mira and Erza were out window shopping, trying on clothes and eating at cafes. Girl's day out.

The sun was shining brightly and it was quite warm even though it was the middle of October. The leaves were changing color and some of them even started to fall.

Currently the four were about to have lunch in a small café. While Erza and Levy were still in line ordering, Lucy and Mira had already gotten their food and were searching for a table to eat at.

The blonde looked at her manager, "Mira, I can't Levy's here"

"It's fine, she's in line"

"Mira!"

"Sorry, but I'm really excited to find out!" She said bouncing in excitement.

"Do you want details?"

"YES!" Mirajane said immediately.

"Well you're gonna have to wait then," Lucy countered "besides, I'm pretty sure Erza wants to hear it too"

Mirajane grumbled in frustration, "life is unfair"

Lucy glared at her.

A moment later, Levy and Erza came holding trays filled with food and drinks. They took their seats and started eating lunch. Lucy had salad, Levy and Mira had sandwiches and Erza had two pieces of strawberry cake.

"Seriously Erza, how do you maintain your figure if you always eat like that? Levy asked in amazement.

The red haired teen ate the piece of cake on the fork. "No Levy, it's because I eat like that, that I can maintain my figure" she finished her first piece of cake looking dignified.

The other three girls laughed while Erza, completely serious about her answer shrugged it off and ate her remaining dessert.

Mirajane took a sip from her drink and slammed it down splashing Erza and Levy who were sitting beside her.

"Ok, enough of the idle-chit ladies, Dirt!" Mirajane said, "girls like dirt!"

The three other girls were startled by the sudden statement given by their white-haired friend. All four of them looked at each other like they were suspects in a crime scene.

"Hmm… no one has anything? Okay then…" Mirajane continued, she pointed to the shortest of the group, Levy. "I hear someone has a thing for… Gajeel!"

Levy squealed, Lucy gasped and Erza nodded as of she knew all along.

"W-what? First off, N-No! I do not have a thing for Gajeel" Levy asserted, "And second, where do you hear these things?"

Mira had a proud face on, "My archive is filled with gossip, fresh or stale, I can see gossip, I can hear gossip I can even smell gossip. Matching making is my specialty"

"That's one hell of an ability," Erza murmured.

Lucy took a sip from her drink, "Well what about you? Ms. Scarlet. Or can I say Ms. Fernandez?"

Erza has many senses. The ability to know when someone is following her, her instincts can tell her when a surprise attack appears and her reaction time is flawless, however in this particular situation, her reaction was slow.

"… Huh?" was all that came out.

Lucy grinned, "That's right, you can hide the story but you can't hide the relationship"

"R-r-relationship? I d-don't know what your talking about" Erza stuttered, "We're not married!"

Levy smiled slyly, "You will be"

"W-we're not engaged!"

"He he, you will be" Mira laughed.

"We're not even together!"

"You will be" came from Lucy.

The three girls looked at one another and by looking at each other agreed on one thing,

"Key word: will" they said in unison.

Erza Scarlet literally turned scarlet. Even the scary and serious redheaded teen has her girlish side.

"W-well what about you?" She looked towards Lucy, "You and Natsu? You've also got a steady relationship with Gray"

Lucy choked. She coughed for several seconds and drowned herself in her drink.

"Me and Gray? No way, Juvia's in love with Gray. I really don't need Juvia trying to slice my throat for being her "rival in love" when I'm not"

"Okay. So Gray's out what about Natsu?" Levy eyed the blonde.

Lucy sighed, "I really thought it was obvious we hated each other, don't tell me I have to put more effort…"

"Alright, no problem, nothing romantic, but is there possibly anything else?" Mirajane pried.

"Anything else? What else could there be?"

"Enemies with benefits" she said like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"Enemies with benefits?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, it's like, friends with benefits except now it's enemies with benefits"

"… Mira… that's just sick"

"But possible"

"Hey Lucy, why exactly do you and Natsu fight all the time?" Erza suddenly brought up.

"Yeah good question" Levy agreed, "I mean it's like whatever he says just pisses you off"

"What do you mean, we're opposites, it's only natural that we'd disagree with other"

"Constantly?" Erza queried.

"It's not constantly, it's a healthy amount" argued Lucy. She angrily took another bite from her salad.

"Lucy, if anyone's opposites, it's Gajeel and I" Levy asserted.

"And are you proud of that?" Mira asked.

"N-no!" Levy defended, "Anyways back to the point, even though we're opposites we don't nearly fight as much as you guys do"

"You and Gajeel don't nearly fight as much because you guys rarely talk!" Lucy pointed out.

"That's true Lucy" Mira started, "but you just admitted you talk to your "enemy" a lot, you must like talking to him"

"I dislike conversation," Lucy admitted, "What about you and Freed?"

It started in her favor and she completely lost it. Now Mirajane was on the spot. A very dangerous spot.

It's worse than being on the spot in court or having to improvise when you don't know the language. Everything that is admitted when you're on the "spot" stays and lingers in the minds of those who heard.

"Me and Freed have nothing going on!"

"Whether or not something is or isn't going on, we can tell you want something to happen," Levy said trying to defeat the matchmaker.

"How could you know something like that when it isn't true?"

"My archive is filled with…" the blue haired girl teased. Mirajane flicked her in the forehead.

"I'm saying this once and only once, there is nothing going on between Freed and me!" Mirajane said loud and clear.

The other three grinned like the Cheshire cat, "right" they said sarcastically, "nothing going on"

"There isn't" Mira said in protest.

* * *

"So Erza what do you think?" Lucy asked. She put the large pair of star sunglasses on. They were made of plastic and were bright neon yellow.

Lucy made a silly pose after putting them on.

"Lucy, although I think the whole "star-concept" thing looks good on you, you're not pulling them off right now"

After eating lunch, the four girls started walking around town doing a little window-shopping. They found a store with potential and entered, all of them hoping to find something that suits their style.

"Erza I'm joking" She said trying to clear things up.

"You better be" Erza said obviously not understanding that it was a joke.

Lucy put back the toy sunglasses on the rack. She along with Erza decided to move closer to the changing room where Levy was currently trying some clothes on and Mira would complement them.

As soon as they walked over, Mira tackled Lucy.

"Lucy, I've been waiting all day and all night," Mira blubbered, "I'm dying on the inside, tell me!"

Erza helped the girls up, "Levy's in the changing room, so it should be fine"

One person already found her secret in past twenty-four hours and although she wouldn't mind if Levy knew her secret, Lucy was trying to keep the people who do know to a minimum.

Lucy was hesitant on telling the story in public. She looked around in case there were people too close and possibly eavesdropping.

"Alright, calm down, yesterday…" She told them about the events that happened and left no details out. She insulted Natsu a lot every time he came up. The poses she did and how she was in his arms blushing.

She did not tell them Natsu found her secret out.

"So what do you think?" Levy said coming out of the dressing room. She tried on an orange skirt with a red tank top and a white jacket.

The other three girls froze when Levy unexpectedly came out.

"Oh Levy that looks amazing" Lucy said quickly while Erza and Mirajane agreed.

Levy looked at them weirdly, "what we're you guys talking about?"

"Ack, um we… we're talking about…" Lucy eyed the other two trying to telepathically tell them, "Help me!"

"Natsu!" Mirajane said suddenly, "We're talking about Natsu". It was the truth, technically. No lies, no harm.

Lucy glared at Mira, fury burning in her eyes, _why would you say that?_

Mira smiled innocently.

"Natsu, huh? Lucy you really do like talking about him" The bookworm teased

"NO!"

"Lucy, I'm joking… anyways I have another outfit to show you guys, hold on a minute" Levy wandered back into the changing room.

The blonde sighed in relief, "that was close"

"Lucy, you need to act better"

"Erza, I'm not an actress, I'm a model" Lucy told Erza, "there's a difference"

"Lucy, didn't you say you participate in plays?" Mirajane asked.

"Well yeah, school plays, nothing extreme like Broadway"

"Anyways aw, that was such a sweet story" Mira said very satisfied with the story. Erza had a grin on her face also.

"Actually I wasn't done"

"There's more?" Mirajane beamed. She got excited all over again.

"Yes, there is… After the shoot…" Lucy recounted her ride home. She also admitted that she realized Natsu has the uncanny ability to change her moods very easily.

"Lucy are you sure there isn't anything going on between the two of you?" Mirajane asked uncertain.

"Mira I'm positive," Lucy responded.

_Now for the remaining part of the story… _Lucy thought to herself. She thought of the best way to tell them Natsu found out. By "best" she meant, the best way that doesn't make her look careless.

"… Actually there's… one more thing…"

"Ta da!" Levy popped out of the changing room again. This time she was wearing a long pale sky blue shirt what covered most of the white skirt she tried on. The sleeves were very long as they covered her hands.

"Levy I think it looks good on you but I think you need a smaller size," Erza said with a smirk.

Levy looked away flushed, "I'm sorry I'm so short"

"But it looks good" Mirajane gave a thumbs up, "it gives that "cozy" feeling"

Levy walked back to change into her regular clothes.

Remembering she was about to tell her friends, she pulled out her cell phone.

_To: Natsu Dragneel  
__From: Lucy Heartfillia_

_Hey moron I'm telling Erza and Mira just a heads up_

A reply came immediately after she sent it.

_To: Lucy Heartfillia  
__From: Natsu Dragneel_

_Oi big boobs _Lucy heavily blushed _is that how u treat some1 whose doing u a favor?_

_To: Natsu Dragneel  
__From: Lucy Heartfillia_

_DON'T CALL ME THAT! _

"So what did you want to talk about?" Erza said when the cost was clear.

"Umm… It's about… well…" Lucy finally managed to get the story out. Telling them exactly how he found out and repeated multiple times, the fact that she was "worn out" and "tired" by the end of the school day.

Lucy expected their reaction to be "disappointment" first instead of all the other emotions.

Anger second… Happiness last?

"Where's Natsu, I'll get him to keep you're secret for you," Erza said with a menacing dark aura, "Don't worry"

Mirajane, on the other hand, had a different reaction. Tears of joy were falling from her eyes and hands were caressing her cheeks like a fan girl fantasizing, "Lucy, I'm so happy… You're going for a relationship with no secrets!"

"Uh… no… That's not what's going on…" Lucy tried correcting her but Mira was already lost in space.

Levy came out of the changing room and had decided not to buy either of them.

So the day wasn't a total loss, they stopped for ice cream on the way home.

Thus their Girls' day out had ended.

"Ne, Lucy," Mira said, "The new photo spread of the Angel and Devil will be out on Monday"

"Really? That's so early though"

"I know, apparently they really liked it" Mirajane quoted.

"Well I don't, I hope I never have to work with him again!"

Mirajane smiled, "_You_ say that but how does _Layla _feel?"

Lucy thought about her words for the rest of the weekend. _What does that mean?_

**A/N: There you go, I personally liked writing this one (probably cause it's not chapter 4, that's right, I have issues with chapter 4, * grumbles * )**

**Don't forget to review!**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	6. Popularity Increase

**Chappy 6 all yours, yeah ;9**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

Chapter 6: Popularity Increase

_Previously…_

"_Ne, Lucy," Mira said, "The new photo spread of the Angel and Devil will be out on Monday"_

"_Really? That's so early though"_

"_I know, apparently they really liked it" Mirajane quoted._

"_Well I don't, I hope I never have to work with him again!" _

_Mirajane smiled, "You say that but how does Layla feel?"_

_Lucy thought about her words for the rest of the weekend. What does that mean?_

~ Natsu's POV

You know the day I come to school early and plan to be on time, is also the day where Erza decides it's also the best day to beat the fucking shit out of me and makes me promise that I won't reveal Lucy's fucking god damn secret.

God, I hate her a lot. I say that in most polite way possible but with every offense intended.

The two girls left for class while I slowly crawled all the way to the nurse's office. The nurse gave me bandages and ice packs.

After being treated I walked to class, of course I was late. Although when I entered, the guys looked at me like I was a god and the girls looked at me adoringly. They already looked at me like that before but now they weren't trying to hide it.

* * *

~ Normal POV

The class had ended early and as usual they were loud and noisy. Paper balls thrown everywhere, loud chatter from different groups and doing stupid things like who can land safely on the ground if you jump out the window.

"Ne ~ Lucy! Look," Mirajane held out a magazine. On the cover was a brown haired version of Lucy otherwise know as Layla and Natsu.

Lucy's eyes widened in shock and grabbed the magazine out of Mira's hands. She read the cover "Angel and Devil: In Love". The contained the pose where Layla was in the arms of Natsu.

Lucy hadn't realized the blush on her face was quite obvious, but in the picture, unless they enhanced it, there was definitely red tint on her cheeks. Natsu just looked at Layla adoringly, if it wasn't Natsu Lucy probably would've liked it. She just would never admit.

She continued to read the cover, "Beautiful model Layla partners up with Natsu Dragneel, Handsome son of CEO Company director" was underneath the title, "Read more on pages 20-24, full photo spread inside!"

Lucy was about to turn to those pages when a couple of them started to unfold. They were life-sized posters of Layla and Natsu together and separate. Lucy blushed furiously when she saw the posters.

"Whoa, I look amazing!" said none-other than Natsu Dragneel, handsome son of CEO Company director. He looked up and down the human-sized poster of himself nodding to himself.

"Wha -? Natsu? What are you doing here? Didn't Erza send you to the hospital?" Lucy questioned startled by his sudden appearance.

"Erza can't send me to the hospital" Natsu argued.

"Do you want to find out?" Erza suggested murderously. Natsu quivered away to the opposite side of the room.

There were a couple of students standing outside there classroom trying to sneak a peak at Natsu and taking his photo with their cell phones. When Natsu regained composure, he winked at the girls at the doorway and they screamed, "Kya~!"

"You disgust me," Lucy snarled watching him show-off.

"That…I don't really care if it's you," He said continuing to show-off. The small group of girls grew so large they blocked the entranceway, "Man I was popular before but this is crazy" he bragged not at all trying to hide his conceitedness.

Lucy continued to look at the magazine, folding up the life-sized posters and turning to page 20.

"Angel and Devil: In Love"

"Gorgeous, seventeen year old aspiring model, Layla, made a stunning photo shoot several days ago, October XX. She has certainly out-done herself this time. Along with attractive son of CEO Company director, Natsu Dragneel, the two made a partnership that created an unforgettable work of art" Lucy read aloud. Everyone around her stopped to listen.

Lisanna took the magazine out of her hands and she started reading the caption, "Despite being Natsu's first time modeling, he did it like a professional… Heh, good job Natsu," She praised.

It was yanked out of her hands this time by Erza, "The two worked flawlessly together, as if they knew each other the entire time… says a source on set"

Lucy tensed up; her hands started heating up and sweating.

"Did you know her before the shoot?" Juvia asked him.

"I-I uh, no that was the first time, you know how it is for me… I get along great with everyone…"

All the eyes turned to Gray, "What about him?" Everyone asked.

"It's not possible for someone as awesome as me to get along with someone as stupid as him" Natsu said simply. A fight broke out of the two but was "calmed" down by Erza making her lose the spot she was at in the story.

"What about Lucy?" everyone around them said.

"She does not count"

Lucy smacked him in the head "Keep reading Erza"

It took a while for the redhead to find her place, "Umm… let's see… here, 'the theme, good turned evil and vice versa, or more specifically, Angel turned evil and Devil turned good, the two teens portrayed their character amazingly'"

"Layla wearing yada yada yada and a pair of black blah blah, Natsu yeah yeah yeah and wearing his signature piece of clothing a white scarf that resembles scales of a mythical reptile: Dragons–"

"Together they created a fabulous poses and created an enjoyable atmosphere using the clothes" Mirajane completed after taking the magazine back, "Best of all, the one pose that was above all, that creates the title, 'In Love', they certainly know how to put a performance for the camera"

Mirajane started to show the pictures of the outfits. Alone or together, they all agreed that the outfits look good and their classmate; Natsu had done a very well job. She showed the other pages filled with more pictures of them.

"Whoa, Layla is sexy!" a guy called out.

"I know right! She is so hot"

These words made Lucy blush faintly, instead of making her look embarrassed teenage girl, it made her look like she was sick and had a fever.

"Oi Natsu, give me Layla's number," a random guy asked.

Natsu looked nonchalantly at Lucy and smiled deviously, "Sure"

Panic arose in her system and she hadn't realized what she said until she said it, "No don't give him my number!"

The class looked at her confused as hell. "Your number? He wants Layla's number" Natsu said. Erza pounded him deep into the ground temporarily knocking him out and continuously beating him with a chair.

Erza whipped her hair off her face and turned to the random classmates, "listen up, none of you are getting my partners phone number" she said sternly, "and Lucy, stop acting crazy, just because your mother's just so happens to be Layla also doesn't mean there's a connection, got that!"

Even though Lucy knew Erza was acting like that in order to help protect her secret, a shiver went down her spine, "Y-yes" she mumbled.

Natsu, finally regaining consciousness, used the table for support and looked around the room for Mirajane who still had the magazine. He grabbed it from her and stared at the pictures of him and Layla.

"Isn't she pretty ~?" Mirajane sang.

Natsu continued to stare before he answered, "no, not really" he said bluntly to which Lucy punched his shoulder.

"Layla, is a beautiful girl" she asserted.

"Now who's being conceited?" He whispered.

This time a bunch of random girls gossiping at the front of the class could be heard, "No way that was Natsu" one girl said.

"It was! Isn't he hot?"

"I know, I know" They all took a glance at the real Natsu and he returned it with a smile. The girls all turned around immediately blushing.

"In the end it will always be you who is conceited" Lucy said.

When the bell rung, they got their stuff and tried to make their way through the heard of girls at the doorway. When Natsu left the class, the girls made a pathway for him and asking him for his number.

Lucy just stared out Natsu and the girls. She proceeded to walk to her locker and ignored him for the rest of the day.

* * *

Over the next couple of days, Lucy noticed that Natsu wasn't kidding when he said his popularity grew tremendously.

His fan club grew by a landslide, which bothered Lucy a lot. Not because Natsu would get a lot of attention and not because the attention would go to his head but rather, since Natsu hated Lucy, so did his fan club.

It was also bad since Natsu's fan club hated Gray's fan club and disputes would arise on a daily basis. And Erza's fan club would separate them.

During lunch Lucy and her friends were inside eating since it was too cold to eat outside. Except the rest of the school was inside also. It became crowded inside the school and very loud with all the chatter.

"It's crazy, I bumped into one of Natsu's fan club members, and she looked like she wanted to punch me in the face!" Lucy vented to her friends, "And Gray's only protected since he has his own fan club to protect him"

"Wow, must be tough," Levy said, "Hey Juvia why aren't you part of Gray's fan club"

"Juvia will never be part of a club that contains her love rivals" she simply said, "Juvia already has Lucy to watch out for"

"Juvia for the last time, I don't like Gray that way!"

"Yeah, she likes Natsu" Mirajane said.

"Mira, for the last time, I hate Natsu!"

Mirajane giggled at her response and so did the others. Lucy finished and walked off hotly.

"No matter where I go, Natsu's there, if not it's his stupid fan club, and if it's just my friends then I'm forced to talk about him," Lucy grumbled to herself. She walked into the bathroom and splashed her face with water.

When she walked out of the washroom, she saw none other then the man she hates, "Ack, Natsu?"

"Hmm? Oh it's you" Natsu said candidly.

"No matter what I do, you're everywhere"

"I'm only everywhere 'cause you want me everywhere"

"That's disgusting"

"I should be the one saying that"

"By the way, control your fan club" Lucy said.

"Don't have to, don't wanna"

"Listen you – " Lucy began but was interrupted by her phone vibrating in her skirt pocket.

_! Urgent !  
__To: Lucy Heartfillia  
__From: Erza Scarlet_

_Lucy, meet us outside at the bleachers._

Lucy sighed, normally when she received a text from Erza or Mirajane and it was marked "_! Urgent !"_ it meant it was about her double life.

"You're off the hook this time but I hope we never have to see each other ever again!" And with that Lucy ran outside.

Just like she presumed, nobody was outside. There were a couple of people who were just walking around the perimeter and there was Erza and Mirajane but that was it.

She walked towards the bleachers and remembered Mira teasing her at lunch.

"Oh, Lucy, you know I was joking besides we have much more important matters to talk about" Mira said, cunningly avoiding Lucy's anger.

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

There was blast of cold wind that made the three girls shiver.

"We're going to tell you this above all, you won't like what we tell you" Erza warned.

Lucy was confused, normally when they told her something concerning Layla; she never liked it since it was always conflicting with her regular life. They should already know that.

"Okay, lay it on me" Lucy said.

"Are you sure?" Mira asked.

"Yes I'm positive"

"Well, take a seat just in case" Erza said.

"In case for what?"

Mira and Erza looked at each other uncertainly but they were definitely happy. They liked the announcement and best of all they wanted to see Lucy's reaction the most. However they knew their friend and they could already guess how she would respond.

"I received an e-mail saying how Layla's popularity grew incredibly in past few days," Mirajane said.

"Really that's great" Lucy said excitedly, "Why do you think I wouldn't like that announcement?"

"That's only the intro to the intro," Mirajane explained.

"Intro to the intro?" Lucy questioned.

"We're just saying this to butter you up," Erza admitted. Mira took a seat on the cold metal of the bleachers.

"Butter me up?" Lucy asked, "I'm so confused"

"Your popularity grew thanks to the Angel and Devil photo spread," Erza said.

Lucy felt her spirits fall only slightly, "I figured"

"That was intro, this is development," Mira narrated, "more specifically, you're new found personality was thanks to Natsu"

"Him?"

"And this is the conclusion," Erza said finally, "This is the time where you should take a seat"

"Why?"

"If you want your popularity to keep building…" Mira started.

"We want you to date Natsu" Erza finished.

.

.

.

"Huh?"

**A/N: Heh, so what do you think? What's gonna happen?**

**Fun fact: Lucy's modeling name was originally supposed to be "Lucille", however it resembled too much like her real name and frankly the name "Layla" has a lot more history.**

**Please review!**

**Yours truly,**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian **


	7. The different ways to ask him out

**So sorry for not updating sooner! I realize I chose a bad chapter to not update quickly. For some reason I went into a slump, which confuses me 'cause I got excited at the end of the previous chapter. So I apologize again, so sorry… **

**To make it up to you I managed to make this chapter long… in comparison to all the others XP**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

**Without further ado, chapter 7 * applause ***

Chapter 7: The different ways to ask him out

_Previously…_

_"If you want your popularity to keep building…" Mira started._

"_We want you to date Natsu" Erza finished._

_._

_._

_._

"_Huh?"_

~ Lucy's POV

"_Natsu please go out with me!" I bowed trying to hide my embarrassment. I could feel my face reddening and heating up, all the more reason to lower my head._

_We were outside behind the school after it ended. Even on the outside, you could hear rustling and moving created by students who wanted to leave the building._

_Natsu gave no response and thought about it. The more I waited the more I started to think he was going to reject me, then again we hate each other so he has every reason… No! Lucy stop thinking that way._

"_Ha ha ha!" Natsu laughed, "You really think I'm going to go out with you?"_

"_Oh shut up!" I remarked, "I have a reason!"_

"_Well I don't fucking care what your stupid ass reason is, I don't care and I don't want to date you…"_

"Stupid Natsu!_" I thought. No wait, I said that out loud…_

I snapped out of my thoughts, good thing no one was in the room to hear me.

Even in my thoughts Natsu and I scream and yell at each other. You'd think that if you're thinking about the situation you could choose how it ends, but no! In my thoughts, Natsu and I still hate the effin shit out of each other!

A couple of hours ago, I woke up in the nurse's office on a bed, where I currently am. Very tranquil and quiet but I was panicking because I had no idea where I was.

At first I had no idea what I was doing here, I couldn't remember why I was here or how I got here. Soon after, my friends explained everything to me and it all cleared up.

I still in school and during lunch Mirajane and Erza told me the scariest thing: date Natsu.

Of course, when that thought appeared in my head, I thought it was a joke and I was probably dreaming but then another scary thought popped into my head: why was I dreaming of that in the first place?

"_If you want your popularity to keep building…" Mira started._

"_We want you to date Natsu" Erza finished._

"_Huh?" I started to wobble and eventually blanked out._

_~ A couple of hours later ~_

_I started blinking my eyes open lazily. When my vision cleared, I saw I was in a soft bed surrounded by a white curtain. Next to the bed was a small side table with a potted plant and a glass of water._

"_Well she took it better then expected…" I heard a familiar voice that was obviously Erza's._

"_That's because she fainted," said another familiar voice, Mirajane's._

_Where exactly am I? I guess I'm not completely awake. Behind the voices I could hear ticking, probably from a clock. If I was more aware of my situation I might not have noticed the small ticking noises._

"_That's true, we still have two more periods left, check if she's awake now" Erza said._

_The curtain opened with a smiling Mirajane. Her smile widened when she noticed I was awake. She jumped and hugged me, "Erza, she's awake! Lucy's awake!"_

_Erza soon came over opening another part of the white curtain, "Hey Lucy, how are you feeling?"_

"_Groggy" I said rubbing my eyes, "I'm guessing you guys know where I am and why I'm here"_

"_That's Lucy, the incredibly smart and beautiful, scholarship student for ya" Mirajane joked, "You're in the nurse's office"_

"_We called you out during lunch, with an urgent text message…" Erza said._

_! Urgent !_  
_To: Lucy Heartfillia_  
_From: Erza Scarlet_

___Lucy, meet us outside at the bleachers._

_"Oh yeah…" I said. I w__as starting to remember what happened, "before that I met Natsu and told him, 'You're off the hook this time but I hope we never have to see each other ever again!' and then I went outside… and then…something outside…"_

"_What happened outside?" Mirajane asked._

_I looked at her confused, "Don't you remember what happened?"_

"_Of course, but it's better you remember by yourself" she advised._

"_Well… we started talking… and then… I was told to…" my face went red and I buried myself in the fluffy pillows on the bed, "Ah! No! Please tell me I'm wrong!"_

_The bell rang but Erza and Mirajane stayed in the infirmary._

_I covered and shielded myself using the covers, "Lucy is not here! Whatever you want her to do, she's not here!" I said very flustered. _

"_Aw common, Lucy stop acting like a child!" Mirajane scolded._

"_Why should I date him in the first place?" I whined._

"_The photo spread gained a lot of recognition, a lot of people like seeing you together" Erza said, "So think of it like this, you know how co-stars date each other when their movie is going to be out soon…"_

"_No! That's not a good reason," I pouted._

"_Well you have a lot of photo shoots lined up with him anyways so you're going to be working with him a lot and besides he already knows your secret so it's easier for you" Mira reasoned._

"_If I ask him, he's just going to say no, it's just a waste of time"_

"_You never know" Mira said cunningly_

_I looked at Mirajane from under the blankets suspiciously, "Did you talk to him?"_

"_Maybe~" she sang._

"_Anyways, it's completely up to you if you ask Natsu out, stay here and rest we got to go to class, let's go Mirajane" Erza said, "Keep this is mind though, it's much more beneficial for you, sorry Layla to date him"_

And here I am thinking of ways to ask him out. Never thought I would need to though…

I even told him I never want to see him ever again…

What if I asked him out as if I were a gangster…?

"Yo dawg, you best be takin' me out on a date and I better like it or you'll…" Like I could pull off gangster, who am I kidding? Besides I don't have a good threat, maybe I should ask Erza for advice…

Or I could ask him shyly…

"Umm… Natsu, uh… if y-you wouldn't mind, please… please g-go on a d-date with me" queue for the bow! More bowing? No if I go with this way, there are gaps for him to laugh…

Okay I could go the "I-don't-care" route,

"So uh Natsu, you know, a date, with me, how 'bout it? Not that I really care…" I'm just an idiot.

Well I can be the smartest person on earth but when it comes to Relationships or Love, I'm stupider then Natsu in general…

Ha! That thought makes me laugh…

Naturally if you have zero experience, regarding Love or Relationships, such as myself, of course you wouldn't know what to do. I've been asked out before but never said yes to any of them since I study half the time and work in the other half. I can't forget I have a large secret.

And even if it is a fake relationship, I don't want to be rejected.

Tomorrow I'll definitely ask him out.

* * *

The next day, I woke up feeling like the walking dead. Since I kept thinking of ways to ask Natsu out, French, a monologue, Pig Latin, I didn't sleep at all.

All he ever does is make my life harder, God I hate him a lot!

However if I don't think about him, then it's all good. Even better, we have no school tomorrow even though it's Friday.

I got dressed, packed my bag and grabbed a piece of toast on the way out.

When I got to school, Mirajane was staring at me expectantly.

"… What?" I asked slowly.

"You're going to ask him, right~?" she sang, "Right~?"

"Uh… yeah"

"Yay~!"

"Ah! Mira-nee you're in a good mood today" Lisanna said, "You weren't like that this morning"

"Oh am I? He he" the older sister playfully questioned.

"Everyone take a seat," Gildarts said, "You're all going to need your text books today so if you don't have yours you're going to have to share with someo– "

"I'm here and I'm not late!" Natsu yelled, "So you can go ahead and put a little checkmark next to my name"

"And the moron returns" Gray grunted, "What a terrible morning we have"

"Huh?" Natsu demanded. As he was about to throw his fist in the direction of Gray's face, my homeroom English teacher suddenly pulled him away.

"Natsu, you were late coming in and now you want to fight someone, sit down quietly and for the first time ever I won't mark you late or absent, got it!" Gildarts ordered while he grabbed his shirt and threw him across the room to his seat.

Magnolia Academy, a prestigious school that also contains a lot of violence, action and fighting from students and teachers, not to mention foul language.

"Anyways as I was saying, textbook, if you don't have yours share with someone, alright turn to page 198"

How un-like me, I forgot my textbook.

I turned to Lisanna who sat behind me, "Can we share textbook's? I think I left mine at home."

"Sure" she smiled.

Jellal walked around the room handing out a worksheet for everyone.

"So do you know why Mira-nee is extremely happy this morning?" the youngest Strauss sister asked.

I finished writing my name on the paper before answering, "Hm? Mira? No, isn't she normally always happy"

"Yes, that's true but as her sister you can tell when it's different, hard to explain but Mira-nee is happy about something specific, I want to know what the specifics are"

I gulped, "You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat"

"Yes but satisfaction brought it back" Lisanna purred.

I finished answering the fourth question, "Technically, when something dies it won't come back…"

"Whoa that's not very Lucy-like of you to say something like that!"

First I forget my textbook now I'm out of character… "I'm sorry I'm not in character"

"Apology accepted," she laughed.

"Well why don't you just ask her?"

"When prying for information you don't just go do things headstrong, and it's not just information, everything really," she said as she flipped through a couple of pages from the text book, "Like animals, to catch ones pray, animals would quietly approach and then BAM! –" She clapped her hands loudly, most of the students turned to the sudden noise "Uh… don't mind me…" she said to the class.

"Ha, ha, got carried away?" I asked.

"That was embarrassing," she was still a little red from embarrassment, "anyways get my point?"

"I guess so but not everyone is like that, the people who take time to think things through would be like…" I took a look around the room, "Freed. However people who would rather just do things and improvise when it becomes tough would be like um… Natsu"

"You really understand Natsu huh?" she winked.

"Why does everyone do that?"

"Oh Lucy were joking, what did you get on question nine?"

"I don't know, I skipped over it, I'll do it at the end"

"Speaking of Natsu, I think it's part of the reason why Mira-nee's so happy"

"Natsu?'

Lisanna nodded, "don't ask where I got the impression but I think it also has something to do with Layla the model…"

"I question where you got that impression indeed," I said.

"Girls at the back of the class no talking" Gildrts instructed.

"Sorry" we mumbled and got right back to work.

Don't go into things headstrong, huh? As in don't ask Natsu out headstrong… but I already thought of ways to ask him out, I could write a book…

Now what?

* * *

"One last thing, that project I will assign soon, maybe two, three weeks from now," Gildarts said, "A project that will be done in pairs, which I will chose" he added quickly.

The class groaned, "Calm your asses down, I haven't even told you what the project is yet," Gildarts said.

While the teacher kept talking, I simply took notes and doodled on a piece of paper.

"Can you at least tell us what the project is about?" Levy asked.

"It's not a book report if that's what your asking Levy" the teacher said.

Levy pouted and subconsciously put a book away. Gajeel, who sat next to her snickered and Jet who sat in front and Droy who sat across glared at him.

Gildarts sighed, "It's a simple research project, do a little research and present it to the class, it's also a grade of participation and communication. I'll give you more details in a couple of weeks"

Sooner or later the class started to talk a lot and fool around. Paper balls were being thrown and whenever they accidentally hit Gray, Natsu, Gajeel or Erza they would go ape-shit on them.

* * *

I attempted to ask him during lunch, my strategy going so far to buy him juice and a meat bun. In the end I couldn't get the question out and he called me a weirdo for the rest of the day.

During the five-minute period from going to one class to another, I tried to ask him.

…

He booked me.

After school, I told Erza to leave without me since I was going to try one more time. She gave me a reassuring smile and left school grounds.

I soon found the pink-haired idiot walking towards his car.

"Natsu~" I sang trying to sound like I didn't hate him.

He looked at me questioningly, "What do you want? You know you still owe me fifteen bucks"

I glared at him and then acted like Natsu was joking, "Oh, Natsu you're so funny, that's what I like about you".

Trying to butter him up, the person I hate the most.

"Seriously what do want? A ride? another twenty bucks"

"Ok not entirely…"

"I don't get it"

"Uh… how should I put this…? So what if I asked you a favor"

"Another one?" he said, "you're very demanding"

"Shut up! … I mean you're honest another good trait" I laughed obviously forcing myself.

He didn't say anything.

"Okay, so Mira told me about that photo shoot we did… and it was a big hit…"

"Lucy… get to your point"

"Please go out with me!" and bow! I started getting nervous; I know why people bow during confessions now.

With no answer, I quickly rambled, "No! Wait! Not me! Well it is me technically, like I want you to go out with me but it's not me by default! Think of it like, me as in you're going out with me but not me because it's not me, me! I mean, people will see you with someone else, that someone else being me but it's not me!" when I said the last me, I motioned to my body and tugging my blonde hair.

"Lucy…"

"Yes?"

"Shut up"

"Right sorry" I said quickly.

"When Erza and Mira came to talk to me, they never told me you would be talkative and chatty"

"Talkative and chatty are pretty much the same thing," I corrected.

"Lucy, it's not in your favor so far"

And with that I shut my mouth.

He sighed as he out his stuff in his car, "I don't really…"

"Please" I don't know why I started begging, "It's like I said, were not actually together, and all we have to do is go on a couple of dates to make it look real"

"You're going to have to owe me a lot more then fifteen dollars"

"So yes?"

"I'll play along"

"Yes" I said satisfied.

"Our first date is on Friday, 7:30, tell your manager to tell the tabloids got it," he ordered.

I nodded.

It's not that I was happy he said yes it's just I was happy Layla would get more attention.

Something like that.

**A/N: I just finished a marathon of Fullmetal Alchemist (Kya! XD), which is why I wrote, "**Technically, when something dies it won't come back…"**, and the way Lisanna responds is a reference to the time Cana says something similar to Lucy during the S-class arc.**

**Also a textbook in English, do not question me!**

**Please review!**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serulian**


	8. Preperations

**Okay, who else read and loved chapter 294! Kya! That was an amazing chapter, Hiro Mashima you're totally awesome!**

**Anyways, I am dead tired, but I had so much fun! :D no joke. Wait for it… I went to an Anime/ Manga convention! Otaku-thon!**

**One more thing, in this chapter I changed my writing style because I wanted to test it out. I'm probably not going to use it a lot. I was also pressed for time and didn't really edit I apologize. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

_Previously…_

"_Our first date is on Friday, 7:30, tell your manager to tell the tabloids got it," he ordered._

_I nodded._

_It's not that I was happy he said yes it's just I was happy Layla would get more attention._

_Something like that._

Chapter 8: Preparations

~ Natsu's POV

Okay yesterday I started dating Lucy's secret identity Layla.

Lucy's annoying, talks too much and she's violent. Of course I can't really say much about the last one.

So my date with her tonight isn't something I'm looking forward too.

Honestly I wouldn't have agreed to go out with her if Erza, Mirajane _and _my dad hadn't threatened me.

That's right, my old man is part of the reason I'm dating Lucy. Lucy's two friends contacted him for reassurance that I would accept. I don't even know how two high school girls were able to call him when an entire press office have been trying for a couple of years now.

* * *

_~ Wednesday, after school_

"_Natsu ~" Mirajane sang, "Can we have a minute please" _

_Erza was standing behind her and I could only assume it had something to do with Lucy and Layla._

"_No thanks, I got to go, later," I said grabbing my stuff as quickly as possible._

"_Natsu ~" Mirajane repeated in the same tone but with more weight, "I _want _a minute"_

_I stopped automatically with a shiver running down my back. I reluctantly walked over to the girls where they immediately grabbed my collar and threw me into a random classroom._

"_Natsu take a seat" Erza offered in such a polite voice it creeped me out._

_I "kindly" refused with, "No thanks, don't think I'm going to agree with whatever you want me to do, especially since you just yanked me into this classroom, what are you idiots? What makes you think I'm going to kindly allow you to boss me around now? Seriously what is wrong with… you?"_

"_NATSU SIT DOWN!"_

"_Aye!" came the only word I could muster._

"_Nastu ~ guess what?" Mirajane continued with her innocent act._

"_I'd rather not, if you could go straight to the point, that would be great…"_

"_Guess. What."_

"_SomethinggoodhappenedtoLucy!" I replied extremely quickly._

"_Ding ding ding! You got it right" _

"_My prize must be something horrible," I muttered quietly._

"_Working with Lucy, brought a lot of attention to you, Layla and both of you together" Erza explained._

"_Okay, that's great" I said plainly._

"_Well we want you to focus the attention of the 'together' part," The scary redhead continued._

"_What? No! What makes you think she'll agree?" I asked alarmed._

"_She'll agree if you agree" _

_"And what makes you think I'll agree?" bad move Natsu, bad move._

_Mira smiled cunningly with a suspicious laugh, she took her phone and flipped it. She typed a text message and pressed sent._

_"If you say yes, I won't send you to an emergency room in Magnolia Hospital"_

"_Erza, I think I'm used to you being violent towards my amazing body"_

"_Then, if you don't date Lucy, I have the power to spread a believable rumor that… you stalk Lucy in your free time" Mirajane said._

"_What? N-no one would ever believe you!"_

"_Do you want to find out?"_

"_I-I'm good…"_

_With that horrible thought in mind, my cell phone started ringing._

_To: My Idiot Son  
__From: Your totally amazing father!_

_I just received an odd text. It seems you won't do a favor for two of your lovely classmates. Say yes or say good-bye to all the maids._

_Say "no" and face the consequences of the threats, say "yes" and all I have to do is act like I'm in love with Lucy, I mean Layla. Both choices are quite harsh and will affect me life in a negative manner._

_"Fine! But she's asking me, if she's truly serious about her job and popularity ratings she'll be asking me," at least if she can't ask me then it's not my fault…_

_"No problemo" Mira winked._

* * *

But I will admit, the way Lucy asked me was kind of funny. How she couldn't ask me in between class, which resulted me in booking her. And at lunch, caused me to call her a weirdo for the rest of the day… maybe I should call her that more often; I mean she is pretty weird.

And when she finally managed to ask the question, she went into fast forward, spewing anything that will convince me to say yes. She's a funny girl.

Speaking of our date, I took my cell phone and sent her a text message containing details, such as where we would eat and when I would pick her up.

I looked up at the clock, I've got about eight hours before I've got to prepare for the stupid date.

* * *

~ Lucy's POV

You know what I like about today? We have no school and it's Friday.

You know what I hate about today? I've got a date with Natsu.

Natsu's annoying; he's always teasing me, and is way too violent. So naturally I wouldn't be looking forward to this stupid date.

_To: Lucy Heartfillia _  
_From: Natsu Dragneel_

_Hey Blondie, 730 reservations at Le Chéile. Pick u up at 7 B redy!_

Le Chéile? I never thought he would want to take me out there. It's such a fancy and elegant restaurant. I figured he would take me to 8-Island restaurant.

Well Le Chéile is one of the most beautiful and fanciest restaurants out there in Fiore. A semi-formal restaurant with a dress code and high-class food.

Now I am looking forward to it…

I'm kind of surprised he agreed to it in the first place. I can only assume my modeling partner and manager had something to do with it.

I have a lot of time before I actually need to prepare, since it's not until 7:30. Working on my novel is a good time-consumer.

* * *

**[Natsu Dragneel] **– Logged on

**[Gray Fullbuster] **– Logged on

[Gray Fullbuster] – Oi Squinty-eyes! Since wen wer u going out with Layla

[Natsu Dragneel] – how the fuck could u possibly no that so soon

[Gray Fullbuster] – Mira

[Natsu Dragneel] – …

[Gray Fullbuster] – Wen wer u the type to keep a relationship a secret

[Natsu Dragneel] – FUCK OFF

[Gray Fullbuster] – I question y she would date u…

[Natsu Dragneel] – Holy Shit! I want 2 punch u in the face

[Natsu Dragneel] – Really badly!

[Gray Fullbuster] – Like that could ever happen

[Natsu Dragneel] – I would, I could, I should DEFINITELY BEAT THE FUCKIN SHIT OUT OF YOU

[Gray Fullbuster] – BASTARD, SAY THAT TO MY FACE!

[Natsu Dragneel] – YOU'RE LUCKY TO HAVE A COMPUTER IN THE WAY!

**[Gajeel Redfox] – Logged in**

[Gajeel Redfox] – Hey, when did you start dating the Layla chick

[Natsu Dragneel] – WTF!? Don't tell me Mira told you also

[Gajeel Redfox] – Levy told me

[Gajeel Redfox] – …who heard it from Mirajane

[Natsu Dragneel] – Of course she did…..

[Gray Fullbuster] – Seriously wat is wrong with u? your dating some1 whos fuckin hot

[Gajeel Redfox] – should u b saying that

[Gray Fullbuster] – As long as Juvia isn't hacking into our convo, then wer safe from drowning

[Gajeel Redfox] – wer?

[Gray Fulbuster] – Im taking u shitfaces with me

[Natsu Dragneel] – u guys wouldn't call her 'fuckin hot' if u knew her like I did

[Gray Fullbuster] – wats that supposed to mean

**[Natsu Dragneel] – Logged out**

[Gajeel Redfox] – did that bastard just log off

[Gray Fulbuster] – Hey Gajeel

[Gajeel Redfox] – What

[Gray Fullbuster] – … wat wer you doing with Levy?

* * *

~ Lucy's POV

With several hours passing by already, I figured I should start preparing. I looked in my closet filled with old, out-of-style outfits.

Dresses, Layla already wore to certain events, skirts I wear all the time. Nothing new.

Just because I'm a model doesn't mean I get to keep all the clothes. Not always at least.

It was at that moment someone started knocking on the door. I threw the clothes on my bed creating a mess. I shut the door to my room and proceeded to answer the front door.

"Erza?" I asked.

Erza was carrying two jewelry boxes and three makeup kits. Behind her was a rack of clothes and she was also carrying a pink box.

"Hello Lucy," Erza greeted, "Mira will be over later she's still trying to contact as many companies as she can"

"Still, when did she start?"

"Around eight if I'm not mistaken"

"In the morning?"

"No yesterday night"

"Are you kidding me, how many people are there that you can tell?" I asked bewildered.

"I don't know, first she told her friends saying like, 'hey did you guys here, Natsu and Layla are going out now?' then she anonymously started an Internet rumor with you and Natsu and then she anonymously started a debate, 'Natsu and Layla, Meant to be? Or fall down the cracks?' something like that"

"Fall down the cracks? Whatever, anyways come in" I moved out of the doorway and helped her bring some stuff in, "You can set the makeup kits and jewelry boxes on the coffee table"

Erza, who has been to my small apartment multiple times, knows it inside out. Like the back of her hand.

She knows where the cups are, extra towels and for some reason my secret candy stash.

"Lucy, we better get started…" Erza called out from the living room.

"Started?"

"That's right, we should get started on preparing you for your date tonight"

"I see…"

"First some cake," Erza held up the pink box and smiled, "Don't worry, I'll prepare it and the tea"

"Alright then, you know where everything is anyways" I closed and locked the door but had to reopen it once again when the knocking resumed, "Hi Mira, come on in, make yourself at home, Erza's making tea and preparing tea" I said dully.

"K' Thanks Lucy" she said obviously not getting my annoyance.

The white-haired teen walked into my apartment and made herself comfortable on my couch.

"Lucy, we have four hours left until 7:30," Mirajane said gleefully, "Are you ready to be transformed into the most beautiful version of Layla yet?"

"… Not really, the way you put it kinda creeps me out" I told her honestly.

"Aren't you excited for your date?"

"Kind of… I mean I'm not excited for the person but I am for the place. Guess where he's taking me!"

"Le Chéile! I know I got so excited when Natsu told me!" Mirajane squealed.

"How do you know that?"

Erza came in with a tray with three teacups and four slices of strawberry cake on plates. She set the tray down and started arranging the utensils.

"Natsu texted me earlier"

"Why was he texting you?"

Mira sighed, "He started ranting to me about how I told all my friends he started dating Layla"

"I'm going to be out of character for the next ten seconds, I apologize in advance," I warned, "I have to agree with Natsu"

Mira gasped as bodily and as exaggerated as possible. She dramatically touched her forehead and purposely fell off the couch.

Erza dropped the eating utensils the moment I answered and made an exaggerated gasp like Mira. Her mouth fell open and she quickly put her hands to her mouth and aong with her act her beautiful coffee brown eyes widened.

"Lucy? Agreeing? With Natsu?" They both said at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it! Natsu and I do have something in common! Pigs really do fly!" I said sarcastically.

"Anyways exciting news! NaLay!" Mira said excitedly. She eagerly accepted the tea and cake with a thank you and continued, "We smooshed your names together!"

"We were originally going to go with 'LayNa' since it sounds cute but it sounds too much like Layla" Erza explained.

"There was also the possibility of 'LayTsu' or 'NatLa' but it didn't sound right" Mira added, "and the best part is… NaLu! Your real name works too!"

"Why would you smoosh my real name!" I choked.

"You two are totally meant to be! Now onto more important business, Erza and I got some work to do before we send you off with the man of your dreams"

They set the cake aside and pulled in the clothing rack. There were gigantic puffy prom dresses all the way to extremely revealing and mini cocktail dresses.

There were work pants and dress pants, floppy skirts and pinstriped pencil skirts. Lacey tops and frilly blouses along with a large assortment of blazers and jackets.

There were some bags that contained accessories like tiaras and many vibrant colored feathered boas.

Erza and Mira threw many dresses at me and ordered me to get change quickly. Erza even "helped" me out, ripping off my shirt…

And somehow along the way, they even started dressing up. They dug threw my closet to find anything useful, that would "jazz" Layla up. Shoes, purses even hats.

When we narrowed it down to two dresses, Erza's choice and Mira's dress. I decided to take my shower while the other two complete the outfit. My shower took thirty minutes but normally it only takes me fifteen.

I imagined myself relaxing and focusing underneath a waterfall. Forgetting the real world and drifting off. If only.

I wrapped my hair in towel and found Erza and Mira eating more cake.

"So which of these do you like?" Erza asked.

A revealing white cocktail dress that showed a lot of cleavage and I'm the one saying that. It was very short and very hard to move in.

Mira chose a flashy, vibrant puple long dress. The straps intersected at the bust area and had frills on the bottom of the dress.

"Revealing versus Fancy… that's tough, I'm gonna go with simple" I moved over to the rack and took a simple blue dress. Floppy that reached my mid-thighs and strapless. The only decoration was black ribbon and a black bow underneath my breasts.

Both of them pouted but quickly got over it.

They dried my real blonde hair and put my fake brown wig. They put some make-up but not too much.

They gave me a small black purse with my wallet, keys and cell phone. They found a chain necklace with a star on it and showed me a pair of black ankle boots.

With that I was ready.

* * *

~ Natsu's POV

I was finished getting dressed, a black suit hidden in the back of my closet and I haven't touched since entering high school. and decided to pick Lucy up.

Annoyingly we live far from each other but that would be my dad's fault for buying such a gigantic house when he doesn't come home for half the time.

I put my scarf in the backseat; I don't think I should wear this evening.

* * *

~Lucy's POV

_To: Lucy Heartfillia_  
_From: Natsu Dragneel_

_Im here come downstairs_

I looked at the clock and noticed the time. I said good-bye to Erza and Mirajane, grabbed the black purse and headed out the door.

I ran towards the elevator and tripped nearly twisted my ankle.

* * *

~ Natsu's POV

I was outside of my car waiting for Layla. This suit is uncomfortable and hard to move in.

I sighed taking out my phone to play with.

I saw my date coming out of the elevator. Layla's wig properly and neatly styled and dolled up.

Her dress, not too short to make her seem slutty but not long to make her look high-maintenance.

* * *

~ Lucy's POV

When the elevator door opened, the first thing I saw through the glass doors was spikes of messy pink untamed hair. His hand was running through his hair with his back against his car and he was looking at his phone.

The suit he was wearing was for once neatly worn, his tie tightened and his collar not flared up with freedom.

And oddly enough he wasn't wearing his white scarf.

* * *

~ Natsu's POV

Holy fuck! Lucy looks beautiful!

* * *

~Lucy's POV

Crap, Natsu looks so hot!

* * *

~ Normal POV

_Did I just say Lucy's beautiful?_

_Did I just say Natsu looks hot?_

**A/N: I absolutely had to get this in today or I would die.**

**I'm having trouble writing, I keep typing in useless scenes that are pretty much fillers and I'm annoyed with that. Don't worry I'm working on it though ;)**

**So did you like it? Needs more work? What do you think? Reviews, comments and constructive criticism greatly appreciated.**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	9. First Date!

**Wahoo! Thanks for all the reviews! Over a hundred, that's amazing. I love you guys all * bows * and I'm extremely sorry for not updating.**

**I'll rant at the end of the end of the chapter…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

_Previously…_

_Did I just say Lucy's beautiful?_

_Did I just say Natsu looks hot?_

Chapter 9: First Date!

~ Normal POV

It was quiet on the ride there. The thoughts planted in their minds prior to getting into one of Natsu's fancy cars still hadn't left their minds.

And the fact they originally hate each other and thought that, freaked them out.

There was Natsu who was lucky to have something to occupy his mind: driving them safely to the restaurant, without any laws broken and no injuries upon arrival. Nevertheless it couldn't be helped that he thought about it too and might have make a few inconspicuous errors getting there.

However Lucy had it rough since she had nothing to distract herself. Sitting in the front passenger seat, the only thing that could take her mind off those thoughts was scenery that changed every few seconds. But those distractions wouldn't last long and her thoughts would revert back to those earlier.

The more she thought of it, the hotter she became and the redder she felt her face become and with that result she had no choice but to look outside the window so her date didn't see her crimson face.

The radio's songs took away the silence that filled the car yet nothing could remove the palpable awkwardness they accidentally created.

_Just get to the restaurant. Drive to the restaurant and endure it for another three hours. I'm used to this type of thing… But with Lucy? That's when you cross the line. I mean Lucy? Really? I've known her since she moved here; we never got along. Did she always look like that? Then again she's Layla right now. Lucy looks like Layla, Lucy has to act like Layla, so in a sense Lucy isn't here but instead Layla is! … Why is Lucy spacing out over there. FUCK! Natsu! Stop looking at her! Do you want to crash? SHIT! Make life easy and just stop thinking about Lucy all together… Dammit! Lucy, Lucy, Lucy, remember L.A.Y.L.A. Layla! _Thought Natsu.

Fiddling with her simple blue dress, Lucy thought, _Breath in, breath out. Look up and down. Now right, left. Crap! Right! Look to your right! Don't look to your left! Whatever, eating! That's right, I just gotta, no! I _must_ get though this. Eat and chew and… look at Natsu the entire time! AH! I have to swear! FU- no Lucy get a hold of yourself, you don't swear anymore. Don't do it! Focus on eating, only eating. Nothing but munching on the delicious Le Chéile food. Food. Food. Foo- BREATH LUCY! BREATH!_

Coughing and choking all at once came as a surprise to the both of them.

Lucy lowered her window and exposed herself to the fresh, cold Magnolia nighttime air.

"What the…? How did you start to–? Never mind, I have a water bottle on the side of the door, go ahead and drink it" Natsu advised.

Now calmed down, no longer choking and not as hot anymore, they both felt the different atmospheres.

_Wow, choking. A new conversation starter… _Lucy thought _it might be useful in the future._

As they got closer to their destination, they started to relax and the tension dramatically decreased.

"So Natsu…" Lucy started cautiously, determined to not look at him.

"What?" He replied as he looked straight ahead with the same determination.

"Uh… I noticed you aren't wearing your scarf"

"Look behind my seat," he said.

She looked behind her and found his white scarf neatly folded up and placed on the backseat.

"You have it but you aren't going to wear it?" She asked quizzically giving in and looking at him.

"That's right, I figured this isn't one of the times to wear it"

"Then why did you bring it with you?"

"I don't know, I'll wear it when I get the chance tonight" he said plainly. They entered the parking lot of the restaurant and Natsu parked the car.

Lucy stretched her arm, enough to be able to grab the scarf from the back seat. When the car stopped she wrapped the scarf around his neck, "I don't know what kind of reason you have to not wear it, I figure someone like you wouldn't care and would wear it no matter the occasion, but here's your chance"

"Someone like me?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"You know, annoying, loud, Natsu-like…"

"Yeah, yeah come on, let's get this over with" Natsu said adjusting the scarf in a more comfortable way, "I question why you're allowing me to wear it"

"Look I'm a nice person!' Lucy said defensively.

"Great, I believe you… but I'm lying"

The couple walked into the high-class restaurant and maneuvered their way to the podium. A lady wearing the Le Chéile uniform greeted them. White blouse, black vest and a black bow tie along with it was a black skirt and black flats.

"Welcomed to Le Chéile" the lady said.

"A 7:30 reservation underneath Dragneel" Natsu said.

"Ah yes, right this way please"

"We just tend to yell at each other too much for you to realize how much of a nice person I am" Lucy added still not letting it go.

"Right, I'm just going to lie so this conversations ends"

Lucy pouted, "See you say things like that and they make me want to punch you"

"And that's what makes you un-lady like" he said, "Ow!"

Lucy shrugged his complaint off and angrily pulled her chair out. She sat down but suddenly Natsu came from behind and in a gentlemanly manner push her chair in for her.

The fake brunette eyed him questioningly. His face was composed, sincere and completely different from ten seconds ago.

He sat in his chair and noticed her suspicious features but all he did was smile.

_What the…?_ Lucy thought. _Oh now I get it…_

Many guests of the restaurant looked at the new celebrity couple. Those who heard the rumors can now confirm it as true and those who hadn't heard know anyways.

With the eyes glued on them, their act had begun.

Fortunately their table wasn't near the kitchen where waiters and waitresses were coming in and out and luckily they weren't near the bathrooms where the smell of lemon citrus soap lingered and flushing noises could be heard.

And above all to help with publicity their table was near some windows.

"Good evening, welcome to Le Chéile," said a waiter. He was wearing the same uniform as the lady but with pants and a black tie. "I'll be your server tonight. Here are some menus, I'll be right back with some water and some bread"

The two opened their menus and almost immediately, Layla's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Gosh, they all look amazing" She noted flipping a page.

"Hn" was all Natsu said.

"How can you say that?"

"I've been here before"

Lucy looked at him and back at her menu. "Well whatever, I think they look good. I can't wait to eat"

Natsu rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Natsu is that you? It is! Long time no see!" said a waitress carrying an empty tray. She had brown hair and was in her mid-twenties.

"Huh? Oh Tara, you still work here?" he asked bluntly.

"That's rude, you know my dad own the place," Tara playfully said acting hurt, "Same as ever! Anyhow I would love to stay and chat but I've got tables waiting, talk to you later"

She dashed her way to the bar ordering a new set of drinks.

"Who was she?" Lucy questioned behind the menu.

Natsu didn't take his eyes off his menu to answer, "Just like she said, 'daughter of the owner'"

"That's not what I meant! I mean who is she to you" Layla corrected.

This time he did lift his eyes, "Why? Jealous?"

Lucy felt her face heat up, "J-j-jealous? You w-wish!" she stuttered.

Natsu pleased with her reaction explained properly, "I told you I used to go here, and when I said that, I meant I used to go here a lot"

"Used to?"

"I stopped going here when that damn exhibitionist started working here," her date groaned, "It's hard to swallow when you have him walking around here naked"

"Gray works here?" His date asked surprised.

"Worked" He corrected, "But just like what he does with his clothes, they got rid of him"

"Haha, that's so like him. I can totally picture Gray taking orders while stripping"

The waiter came back with a tray containing two glasses of water and a basket of warm freshly baked bread.

"Are you two ready to order?" the waiter asked taking out a notepad.

Layla nodded vigorously in excitement while Natsu sighed.

* * *

"So do you know our waiter" Layla said eating a mouthful of lobster.

"Huh?" Natsu replied cutting into his steak.

"Did you know him? Like his name"

"I think his name was Mark or something like that, why?"

"Well you weren't 'buddy buddy' with him like you were with that other girl"

He ate the piece on his fork before answering, but in the end it wasn't the answer she wanted, "Hn, you are jealous!"

"I will kick you from underneath this table" Lucy said angrily.

The table was decorated with a white a tablecloth that reached all the way down to the floor. Lucy could kick him all she wanted to without anyone knowing.

"Feisty, no wonder you don't have a boyfriend" Natsu noted.

"Jerk, no wonder you don't a girlfriend"

"I broke up with her three weeks ago"

"… Lucky her"

"Shut up" he said pointing to the window with his fork, "paparazzi!"

In the background was nice relaxing jazz music played by the small jazz ensemble on stage. But outside the restaurant were multiple flashes and loud mutters.

Layla did her best to look at him with such care and love.

Natsu looked at her admiringly until he broke out of character, "Man it's so hard to act with you"

With a kick from underneath the table created a nice bruise on Natsu's shin.

"Perfect a violent girlfriend" Natsu said sarcastically.

Lucy "hymph-ed" him and returned to her meal. Grumbling to herself, she stuffed her mouth and chewed in a bad mood.

Noticing all the confused and puzzled expressions on the onlooker's faces he grabbed her hands gently and look into her creamy chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm sorry"

Even though she knew it was an act she couldn't help but blush. It's just one of those moments where the body does what it wants.

She looked away trying not to be pulled into his act but the stare he used "filled" with remorse, she couldn't not "forgive" him.

Turning back to him, who still hadn't let go of her hands she replied, "I forgive you".

The flashes on the outside appeared like strobe lights and gossip spread throughout the restaurant.

"Can't they mind their own business?" Layla wondered out loud.

Natsu smirked, "This restaurant is boring, we're the only one's who're interesting"

* * *

After finishing their meal, they both ordered dessert and coffee. Once they got it, as their act continued, Lucy had to go so far as feeding her some of her dessert using her own fork.

Obviously she stopped eating the chocolate cake after it touched his mouth.

"I need to ask for a new fork now…" She said sighing. Using the fork she played with the cake.

"I'll eat it for you, it's better if I do anyways," Natsu said taking another piece of her cake, "Don't want more weight, you even made the effort to only drink water this evening"

"I just wasn't in the mood for soft drinks," Layla said defensively.

"You weren't in the mood to gain weight," he corrected, "Ow!" after another kick was carried out underneath the table. "I bet all the pictures the tabloids took, are you annoyed with me or me in pain, now if they're smart they might be able to put one and one together" Natsu warned.

"Alright, I can fix this" she said thinking to herself. Lifting the fork to her mouth and eating the baked good, she obviously had not realized.

"Uh, Layla did you forget already? I used that fork"

**A/N: The date continues in the next chapter. Hopefully I'll update quicker. Also just a note, there are a lot of small details added in this chapter that are essential for future chapters.**

**Second, I apologize again, for not updating, no excuses but let's just say I'm not out of my slump yet. **

**Third, I was in such a rush to complete chapter 8 I made so many mistakes (Even forgot disclaimer). I corrected most of them, I'm really bad a proofreading. I also forgot to put an event in that chapter which screwed up this chapter but I made do (you don't have to go back it's okay, nothing's changed).**

**Fourth, I realized I shouldn't rush but I should try and update sooner all at the same time, let's see how that works out.**

**Fifth, (Glad you're still reading this btw XD) summer vacation is ending and I'm going back to school :'( hopefully it doesn't slow any updates.**

**Sixth (Last one, promise), Thank you for all the support. Don't forget to review.**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	10. We are two different

**Hey guys, went back to school, I know it's going to be a rough school year, gotta wake up early in the morning everyday! Life is good – sarcasm intended – :P**

**Anyways did you guys notice the pun in the chapter title? That's probably the most creative I will get.**

**Well, I present you to you Chapter 10**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

_Previously…_

_"Alright, I can fix this" she said thinking to herself. Lifting the fork to her mouth and eating the baked good, she obviously had not realized._

_"Uh, Layla did you forget already? I used that fork"_

Chapter 10: We are "two" different

~ Normal POV

"Layla it's not a big deal–" Natsu started.

"Shut it! Your saliva is running down my system, you've infiltrated my body; it won't leave for like another twenty-four hours! When I sleep, it will be like I'm sleeping with you, when I take a shower, it will be like I'm cleaning not only my own body but yours also! This is the worse possible thing that could ever happen in my life!" Layla panicked.

"Well, you don't have to sugar coat it" he said sarcastically.

When dinner ended and Natsu oh so graciously paid for dinner, Lucy realized their dinner date didn't go quite as planed. Just like the relationship between Lucy and Natsu, always bickering and hitting each other, the same relation was applied to the "lovers" Layla and Natsu.

To fix that problem, Lucy came up with the idea of having Natsu walk her around town. The scenario: a romantic walk at night. If the rest of the evening went as planned, it would all work out since the paparazzi were still following them. They wanted it to work out; they didn't want their time spent together for nothing.

However their acting wasn't the only problem.

_Did I just say Lucy's beautiful?_

_Did I just say Natsu looks hot?_

Before the date even commenced, their thoughts betrayed them. And thanks to Lucy's obliviousness, she accidentally had an indirect kiss with Natsu. It just wasn't their night.

"Urg! I'm so stupid, first I think you're–" Lucy stopped in realization of what she was going to say out loud.

"You think I'm what?" he questioned.

"N-nothing" she said quickly.

"I wanna know" Natsu pried further.

"I don't want to tell you"

"I have a right to know, it's about me isn't?"

"Well, I'm taking that right away" She asserted in a joking but serious way.

"You can't just take my rights away–" he started.

"I can and I will! Common, lets walk to magnolia square, if we don't pull this off then it will all be for nothing" she said cutting him off.

The air wasn't necessarily cold but since it was near the end of October it wasn't hot either. There was a breeze that sent Lucy shivering from time to time but she made the effort to act like it was nothing.

_I am not bowing down to him and asking for his coat _She resolved. Not only shivering but also a small pain erupted in her ankle, _Shit…_

The couple had to hold hands, where Natsu realized; _Her hands are small, soft and dainty. Complete opposite of her violent, spunky and loud personality._

They caught the eyes of bystanders, their heads suddenly filled with questions, assumptions and gossip. They were ready to tell anyone who were willing to listen.

It was almost nine o'clock and the stars were visible to some points. While most of the lights in the city covered the celestial objects in the sky, those that were visible Lucy found them beautiful.

"We'll go to Magnolia Square and then we'll go back," Lucy announced. She wrapped her arms around his right arm because it was the only warmth she received.

Bewildered by her actions, he noticed something rather peculiar, "Layla, did you know you're turning blue?"

She was startled by what he had said. Lucy didn't really think it was that apparent. "N-no I am not turning blue! You are just seeing things," Lucy said. With one more gust of wind, hugged his arm tighter.

He sighed, "You see, this why you're not cute," He took off his coat and put it on her shoulders.

Originally reluctant, she eventually melted into its warmth but tried her best to look like she didn't really need it in the first place, "I-I don't actually need it, you're probably going to get c-cold without it…"

"I don't need it, I have an abnormally high body temperature, and the coat just increases it…" he replied knowing fully well she wants to keep it.

"A-are you sure?"

"Since when do you care?" Natsu looked at his date skeptically.

"I told you, I'm a nice person!"

"Uh-huh of course you are," he said sarcastically.

She groaned in frustration, "What do I have to do to prove it to you?"

He thought about it for a moment, pondering for an answer, "for starters you could give me the fifteen dollars you owe me…"

"I am not giving you fifteen dollars!" Lucy said in an exasperated tone.

"And that's the reason why you can't convince me"

Layla lifted her fist but used her other hand to force it lower muttering under her breath, "I am not Lucy, I am not Lucy, I am Layla right now, Layla dammit, Layla!"

Natsu looked at her quizzically, "Why'd you lower it? I would think someone like you would hit me, or did you finally realize my awesomeness?"

"I can't hit you, I, Layla would ever hit you" she said grinding her teeth when she said the last part, "Layla and Lucy are two different people".

"Really? Is that so? In my point of view you guys are completely the same" Natsu said in a semi-insulting tone.

"No, There's a significant difference between the both of us"

"How so? Do tell!" His facial expression looked interested however his voice was full of sarcasm.

"If anything Layla's more ambitious, serious and more or less mature" Lucy said, "Lucy, on the other hand is more hard working, somewhat flexible and… _way _more stressed out".

Natsu snorted loudly, "_You're_ stressed out?" He questioned.

Layla nodded her pretty little head, suspiciously eyeing him for his tone of surprise.

"We're talking about _Lucy_ right? The blonde one?" He continued in the same manner.

"I know who the 'blonde one' is! God really? Is it that surprising?" She said fully annoyed now.

"Are you sure? Maybe I don't know which Lucy were talking about? I don't know any 'stressed-out Lucy's'…" Natsu commented still extremely confused.

"I… er… She, uh… Lucy is stressed!" Layla yelled picking her words carefully.

"I don't buy it, Lucy can't be stressed"

"Why not?"

"Someone like you? Stressed? First of all, what are you stressed about?"

"What does that mean? You've been saying that all night, 'Someone like me'?" Lucy questioned hotly.

"You know, loud, un-lady, Lucy-ish" Natsu simply replied.

She flicked him on the forehead "You deserve this!"

"I merely copied what you did to me," He said innocently.

"Yeah… well next time come up with something more original…"

"Yeah yeah, okay, whatever…" he said rolling his eyes annoyed, "Now, why are you stressed?"

"Why do you keep asking that? Isn't it obvious?"

"How can it be obvious when you're always laughing in class and you always want the quiet life. You spend time at the library and the only club you're in is 'book club' with Levy" Natsu explained, "In comparison to me, your life seem way more simple…"

She stopped walking when he finished, "Whoa, hold on there, in what way is _your _life hectic?"

"What do you mean?"

"You have maids and butlers. You don't have to cook. You've got cars and a crap load of money. You don't have anything to worry about!"

They arrived at Magnolia Square, a popular shopping district with many shops, cafes, boutiques and restaurants. Many people often shopped there, even at that hour just to eat. It was also a popular tourist attraction with the large fountain in the middle with the small legend of whatever you wished for would eventually come true and would give you really good luck.

It was also popular during the winter when the big Christmas tree was out and decorated and New Years lights were put up. But Christmas and New Years wasn't for another couple months.

Lucy sat on the edge of the fountain. She wrapped Natsu's coat tighter and started to play with the hem of her dress.

"That's how you see me?" he questioned.

"How else?"

"I… I'm not going to get into it. It's boring…"

"I am boring, don't worry"

"Okay… Let's say I have to…work hard also"

"Natsu? Working hard? That doesn't make sense; I don't know any 'work hard Natsu's'. We're talking about the same person right?" Lucy emphasized on the last part.

"Look whose being unoriginal now!" Natsu countered, "Anyways I don't want to get into it"

"Well, I'm interested now, curious I should say." she took out her wallet and then a penny. She was silent for a moment and eventually closed her eyes. She then threw the penny backwards and it landed in the fountain, "Okay, perfect we can go back now"

"What did you wish for?"

"If I tell you, it won't come true!" She asserted.

"What you did right there is exactly what makes me question why you say you're stressed" Natsu said.

"Natsu, there's a reason why I'm at the library, to study. I have to maintain my scholarship. I don't really have time for clubs, but they look good on a resume so I joined book club. I lead two lives and if the secret ever gets out then… well I'm scared to think of what might happen"

Natsu started leaving Magnolia Square first and noticed Lucy still way behind. She slowly walked over to him and they continued walking.

_Shit! _She thought _this is bad._

"Actually now that it's brought up, why do you have a secret?"

"Because Lucy's boring, no one would accept Lucy as a model" Lucy said, "Layla, gives that mature, professional feeling while Lucy is in need of money and studies all the time"

Lucy started to slow down again but quickly caught up by hopping on one foot to get to him.

"What about your friends? Don't you think they'd support you?" he questioned as he waited for Lucy to catch up, "Or do you just not trust them?"

"That's a terrible accusation! I trust them with all my heart and I want to tell them…"

"But…?"

"I don't know, the more I want to, the more I can't bring myself to tell them…" She slowed down and eventually stopped all together and sat on a fire hydrant.

Looking back at the faded voice, Natsu saw Lucy taking a 'break'.

She noticed his look and attempted to run though she was not able to hide her limp.

Lucy winced at the pain and silently cursed under her breath.

"Are you limping?" Natsu asked.

"No!"

"That's why you're so slow" he noted, finally understanding.

"I'm not limping!" She stubbornly said.

"… Alright let's run all the way back," he proposed.

"I–! Okay I'm limping!" She admitted, "We're not running back!"

Satisfied with her admittance he lowered himself and positioned his back towards her, "Get on"

"What? No thanks, I can walk the rest of the way," Lucy said.

"It's just going to get worse"

Lucy thought about it. Getting on Natsu's back for a piggyback ride wasn't something she would normally do, correction: it never crossed her mind, but the sharp staggering pain in her ankle, left her limping. She didn't really have a choice.

She got on Natsu's back and he adjusted himself to make both of them comfortable and he started walking. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"I think I twisted my ankle…" She said absently.

"How could you possibly do that? We didn't do _that_ much walking…"

"Before the date I ran towards the elevator…"

"Smart" Natsu said sarcastically.

"I didn't want to be late and you seemed quite impatient"

"… Thanks…? But next time I don't want you injured…"

"Hm… First you give me your coat, then you allow me to ride on my back and now you say you don't want me injured… Are you Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Are you blind? Of course I'm Natsu" He said, "I'm Natsu Dragneel, the very definition of Awesome"

"Conceited I'll give you that but maybe you are nice" Lucy said.

The moment was nice, calm and for the two of them one of their best. Of course someone has to ruin it.

"Maybe… you could lose some weight…" Natsu said in return.

She attempted to punch him to the best of her ability in her position; it must have been quite weak since he didn't waver at all.

Just as they entered the parking lot of Le Chéile, he walked over to his car.

"By the way, I prefer Lucy over Layla, just putting it out there" He added.

Natsu opened the door to his car and gently let her down, Lucy was grateful that Natsu immediately went over to the other side of the car. She could feel herself burning up and she knew she was turning scarlet.

Before the date started and after the date ended, she was still blushing.

**A/N: School started, it's an important year for me – academic-wise – and I joined a bunch of things, in short I don't have time to sleep! So I might take a while to update :( however I can reassure you guys that I will update At Least once a month. There could be more in a month. Just be patient, thanks! XD I will do my best!**

**Please review like if it was the end of your life and it was the last thing you were going to do: review! :3**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	11. Eye Contact

**I almost didn't make it. I re-did this chapter a few times, "redoing" as in "entirely new". But I made it! October bow down to me! Muahahaha hahaha!**

**Happy Halloween!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail does not belong to me!**

Chapter 11: Eye contact

~ Natsu's POV

It's actually the strangest thing. It's almost been a weak since that date and we haven't talked at all.

With a few exceptions of course, the entire week I've had a few photo shoots with her, so naturally I would have to talk to her, but "her" isn't Lucy, it's Layla, and apparently theirs a difference. Who would have known?

I wasn't expecting Lucy to give me an update or tell me if all went well but because we haven't talked to each other since, I'm just going to assume that it's all good. I mean if it went really bad I probably would never hear the end of it and Lucy would be yelling at me for "my" mess-ups.

Because that's just how Lucy is. Frankly I'm glad she didn't call my cell or text me since I was busy last weekend and she just talks and talks. It's only tangents with her.

But that's what makes it strange and good all at the same time. We didn't talk to each other.

Except.

It wasn't…our best moment together…

* * *

_Monday…_

_I pulled my car into the driveway of the school. I parked the vehicle and headed for the entrance._

_It was already mid-way through lunch and a sea of students was outside playing soccer. On the inside were groups of students – mainly girls – walking around and chatting._

_I ignored the protocol for signing in with the Main office where I would explain my reason for missing all of my morning classes and headed straight for my locker near homeroom. And yes I did have a proper reason._

_On the way upstairs I just so happened to meet my "girlfriend's" manager walking around with a stack of paper is her arms._

_She flashed a simple smile at me._

_I'm more used to Mirajane giving me exaggerated gossip-filled smiles over clean straightforward ones, in short it was quite creepy. _

_"Can I help you?" I asked her quite suspicious of her grin. I'm asking the truth especially since Lucy didn't text me all weekend about anything._

_The white-haired teen shrugged nonchalantly, "No it's fine… you know, Lucy says it went fairly well"_

_"… Yeah… I guess, she hasn't yelled at me yet so… probably," I said not exactly sure what to respond with._

"_She hasn't?" She asked in surprise and that made me relatively surprised. Because whether or not Lucy voluntarily told her, Mirajane must've heard about it at some point and that means about the dinner that went sort of awry. _

"_Nope" and I walked away from her._

_I got closer to my locker this time I met Erza. While I met Mirajane by chance, from the looks of it, Erza might've been waiting for me._

_She marched up to me with her head high and a determined look on her face._

"_Now what?" I said loud enough for her to hear me even if she was still a couple of meters away._

"_I want to know what happened on Friday," she said getting straight to her point._

_It took me a while to process what she was talking about. "…Wait, she hasn't told you yet?"_

"_No, she refused to answer our texts and didn't pick up our calls and every time I or Mirajane asked about it she replies, "Oh it went…well", what happened?"_

_Well that's probably why Mirajane had a normal smile when I met her previously. _

"_It's like she said, it went well"_

"_Natsu, look, if you don't tell us what happened, then we can't fix any problems that might've occurred that the paparazzi might exaggerate on"_

"_We had dinner and walked around Magnolia square, nothing more, nothing less" I opened my locker and stuffed my empty bag in there._

"_If that is the case then why won't Lucy tell us?" She pried further._

"_How the fuck would I know? I'm not Lucy!" I yelled exasperatedly, "Seriously, interrogate her not me! Where the hell is she anyways?"_

"_The library with Levy" Erza merely said, "no never mind, she's right there"_

_She pointed to the staircase where Levy and Lucy walked up holding several notebooks, textbooks and novels._

"_OI LUCY!" I yelled her name. Most students near us turned to look at the commotion. COME HERE!"_

_She jumped when her name was called, dropping a few books. She became red in embarrassment since everyone was looking at her._

_Levy giggled by her side and helped her carry some books. She forcedly nudged her in my direction in which Lucy did not seem very pleased with._

_Lucy stumbled on her way to us. She looked extremely pissed and didn't look me in the eye._

_"What?" she demanded. _

"_Your friends are brothering me"_

"_So what? You deal with it!" She snorted._

"_They're your friends," I said in retaliation._

"_Yeah? And they're bothering you" she emphasized on "you". _

_She continued to avoid my gaze and she started to look everywhere except at me. I grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look into my eyes._

_She jolted in surprise and she became instantly red. "W-w-w-what a-are you d-doing? DON'T TOUCH ME!"_

_She quickly dashed off before I could even react. "Well… it's up to you to interpret that Erza," I said._

* * *

So far this week, I had two photo shoots with Layla. Obviously I had to talk to her except when we did talk no eye contact was present.

We did not talk about the date however we did talk about the "secret unplanned" meeting we'll tomorrow, Thursday.

This "secret unplanned" meeting is what Mirajane calls a "spontaneous date". Erza interpreted that we both messed up the original and doing this should make up for it. After tomorrows photo shoot we're going into town and chill with the people.

Clearly it's not "secret" or "unplanned" or "spontaneous" because Erza created a schedule for us to follow.

I would be complaining but I've realized that complaining gets me nowhere. And "nowhere" is actually a place where I have to listen to Lucy scolding me and ranting about me.

The past photo shoots had been "simple shoots", as in it wasn't a heavily themed photo spread but rather, just wear the clothes and wear a smile. It's completely different from the first time I modeled with Lucy.

Because these photo shoots are three hours of misery.

These types of photo spreads are naturally boring, to spice things up, they – every single living thing present in the room – are very intensive on having intimate poses between Lucy and I. It's all because we're "dating".

That's what the cameraman wants but Lucy and I have created this invisible line between us and we both respect it. With simple photo shoots, the photographer tends to direct what type of pose he wants. And like I said, he wants something intimate.

It gets annoying.

Speaking of annoying I have to ask her something…

* * *

~ Thursday, after school

"Natsu please get closer to Layla, thank you," The cameraman said.

I took a glance at Lucy not looking in her eyes. She looked uncomfortably at me and we both subconsciously moved away from each other.

The cameraman removed the expensive camera from his eye and glared at us.

I hesitantly scooted closer to her while she moved away from me. She turned her attention to the ceiling and refused to look at anyone anymore.

The cameraman looked at Layla "Layla, please". He flashed an eerie smile, one that shouted, "DO IT!" very clearly.

She reluctantly closed the gap between us but it was very obvious we were uncomfortable.

The cameraman sighed, "Take five, alright?"

"Natsu! Do your job properly, there's a reason why we're doing this, don't make it for nothing" Layla scolded

"You can't blame me entirely," I said back.

"That's right your both to blame" Mirajane said. Mirajane and Erza have been watching us in case we start yelling at each other and stop acting "couple-like".

"But–" Lucy started.

"No buts, both of you, you're not convincing enough" Erza said.

"It's not like we have to hug or hold hands in photo shoot, we're just wearing casual clothing" I said, "We just smile"

"Yeah, well, you're doing a terrible job at just that" Erza said bluntly.

"Erza's right, you don't have to do any of that but you could at least make eye contact!" Mira advised.

We took a glance at each other and immediately looked the other way.

"Mira! Erza! It's easier said then done!" Lucy whined.

"Well figure something out, Layla, this is your job and if you want you popularity to increase then perform better in front of the camera," Erza said, "The staff and crew have been saying they thought the photo shoot would have been better"

"Why?" Lucy seemed a little sad.

"Good question," I said sarcastically.

The three girls shot me a look.

I rolled my eyes and took a quick look at the cameraman who had been sighing for most of the break. He was currently wiping the lens and asking a couple of people to make it lighter in a certain area.

"Layla-san, Natsu-san are you ready?" a man came up to us.

"No need for –san" we both said in unison. We looked at each other, her, annoyed that we said the same thing, me, amazed that we said the same thing.

"Oh, okay, Natsu, Layla we'll continue if you're ready"

"Oh right, thank you," Lucy bowed politely. While the man walked away to direct the other crewmembers, she sighed and turned to me, "Let's go"

She started walking towards the set, yawning. She clearly was frustrated and was conflicted on how to get rid of all the negative energy she was exerting. She stood on the set, stretching her arms trying to be occupied with something.

"Eye contact huh…? I've been hearing that word a lot recently … oh well…" I absently said out loud, "Let's make this a little more interesting"

I ran over to the set nearly tackling Lucy in the process. I grabbed onto her to slow myself down but grabbed her waist and lifted her off the ground where I spun her in circles. Completely unintentional but it looked like I meant it.

She squealed in fright but mainly confusion, for multiple reasons. The entire crew just stared dumbfounded. One minute we don't even look at each other the next I'm hugging her and I'm not letting go. And Lucy's just as confused.

When we stop spinning I let her down gently and mutter an extremely low apology but she's still looking at me like I went crazy. Our eyes meet and hers are saying "Why the f*ck did you just do that?" yes, there are sensors, I can't remember the last time Lucy swore.

I put my lips closed to her ear, so to everyone it looks I'm giving her a small peck to her cheek, "Great job, we finally make eye contact, Mirajane and Erza can't complain" I whisper.

Her cheeks flushed a bright rosy color; she turned her head away and crossed her arms. Normally I would have been pissed, because I didn't do anything but rather, I just laughed.

And in the background were the flashes of the camera.

* * *

"Good work you two" Erza said.

"Yeah, it was perfect after the break" agreed Mirajane, "anyways you two know what to do, don't worry everything's planned and prepared" our classmate gave us a thumb's up.

"Remember one hour before the building closes, if it does all your stuff, keys, homework, clothes, stay in there" Erza warned.

"Right, don't worry" Lucy assured the two.

"We'll stay here as late as we can for you guys, my advice when out there… do something eye-catching, daring, Natsu I leave it to you" Mirajane winked.

"Right…"

The plan was to leave F.T agency in our photo shoot clothes, make everyone think we've been working too hard and then go back to the agency before they lock up.

It was quite late, ten-ish. Luckily Lucy had already done most of her homework inside the agency before transforming herself into Layla.

I on the other hand, did not really care and dropped it off at home before coming to the agency.

"Common Layla, this way" I shouted in order for everyone to hear.

"Natsu slow down!"

I was ahead but it was all for show.

"Layla hurry up!"

She was already out of breath and the outfit she wore only made it harder to run in.

A casual outfit for the autumn to winter transition, jean short shorts with brown leggings underneath and black boots with heals. She wore a tight white shirt and a large green floppy sweater that reached to her mid thighs and at the waist was a black belt.

I was wearing a black casual jacket decorated with many belts and buckles and a white shirt. With ripped skinny jeans, a pair of black califa's and my signature scarf, I am definitely more comfortable then Lucy.

We heard noise coming from a large group of people, music, clapping and cheering.

I took her hand and steered my way into that group.

It was a small musical group; it consisted of a violinist, a cellist and a drummer who only had the bass drum and snare drum.

They were playing traditional Celtic sounding music and the everyday music you hear or heard on radio.

The people around who were just watching, had their cameras out and taking pictures or taping their performance.

I still hadn't let go of her hand, so I dragged her in the middle of the group and forced her to dance. The song was slow and a bunch of other couples joined in also.

"Natsu?"

"Everyone here have cameras," I explained, "they can record it and post it on the Internet, just don't do anything stupid, because like I said it's going on the Internet"

"You're only saying, don't mess up, because I'm with you!" she said.

"Whether or no that's true, still affects you so be careful"

"You seem confident that you won't make a fool of yourself"

"When am I not confident?" I asked, "Besides compared to you I know what to do when you want attention and what to do when you don't want attention"

The song changed with a faster tempo and somehow it kind of became a sort of square dance. We started in a circle then switched into pairs. Moving and dancing around everywhere, we switched partners and by then of the song I was back with Layla.

All those who had not participated cheered and applauded when it was over. The dancers applauded the musicians and vice versa.

"Your Layla the model and Natsu Dragneel right?" a girl and her friends suddenly came up to us, "Can we have your autograph?"

"Uh, sure" Lucy smiled joyfully. The girl handed us a marker and we sighed a piece of paper she had with her.

"Do you mind if we have a picture with you?" the friend asked.

"No problem," I said.

The girl's friend took the camera and we both got on either side of her and smiled. They passed the camera around until everyone got their picture.

"We love you guys together," said one of them.

"Thanks, I love being with her also" the group of friends and I laughed. Lucy stared at me suspiciously.

"Anyways, my girlfriend and I, have to get back to the agency,"

"Already?"

"Aw, I know you want to spend more time with me, but we have to get back before the agency closes" I said, "You know before they realize we haven't changed out of our photo shoot clothes"

Some of the people in the group caught on to what I said and started explaining to their friends. I dragged Lucy off and we started running back.

"Natsu! Stop, hold on" Lucy wheezed trying to get some air in, "We're going back already?"

"Yep, we're finished," we started walking at a much slower pace.

"I thought we were supposed to get everyone to notice us"

"We did" I clarified, "We'll be on the Internet and soon enough, theirs going to be a rumor of us not getting enough free time to hang out together"

"How can you be sure?"

"Before I said out loud we were in our photo shoot clothes and said "before they realize" meaning we don't have permission"

"Yeah but how do you know they will reach the conclusion we don't have enough time to spend with each other"

"_I know you want to spend more time with me but we have to get back before the agency closes_" I mimicked my voice from before, "I told you, I know how to get attention"

"Th-thanks" stuttered a red-faced Lucy. She started walking faster, transformed into a run and eventually into a full out sprint.

"L-Lucy? Wait! Hold on!" I yelled after her.

Man she runs fast when she wants to. It took me a while to catch up and that's coming from me.

When I finally caught up to her, she was walking again.

"Lucy how many times have I told you you're an easy target for rape?" I demanded

"Uh, once and listening to you made me end up with owing you fifteen dollars"

"I still want the money"

"I'm not gonna give it to"

I sighed, "You really are hard to act with…"

"Say that again, I dare you!"

"You. Are. Hard. To. Act. With." I enunciated.

* * *

Upon passing through the gate to get to the front door of the agency, Lucy ran ahead towards the door.

I felt my car keys jingle in my pocket.

"Oi Layla, what are you doing? Why are you just waiting outside?" I yelled when I noticed Lucy was just standing in front of the doors.

"Uh, Natsu? The doors locked!"

**A/N: I just crammed a lot of stuff in a single chapter and it might (might!) continue on like that for the next couple of chapters. I know what I want in the future I just don't know how to get there. But if you have any questions, feel free to PM me or leave a comment down bellow.**

**Thanks for reading, I'll be back next month :9**

**Please review!**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	12. Countering Solutions

**WARNING! BAD NEWS: VERY SHORT! I'm so sorry, I was writing this chapter and it became really long, so I decided to make it into two chapters :(**

**GOOD NEWS! The next chapter will be updated really soon, I just need to edit :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail!**

_Previously… _

_"Uh, Natsu? The doors locked!"_

Chapter 12: Countering Solutions

~Normal POV

It was indeed an odd sight to see Lucy panicking and hyperventilating all at once. The last time Natsu had seen her this way was over a stupid project that broke right before the class that it was due for.

But, though Natsu was all for seeing Lucy in a bad mood, he still couldn't help but feel bad for her.

It was a serious problem that all her stuff was in the now-closed building. Her school bag with her homework, keys, cell phone, wallet and clothes were in there and now unattainable until the next morning.

Not only could she not enter her home she had no means of getting there. Even if she were to take a taxi, she didn't have money since she didn't have her wallet. And Natsu was out of the question, he probably would ask for another twenty dollars.

"Holy shit, holy Shit, Holy SHIT!" Lucy yelled as she buried her head in her hands.

It was when Natsu noticed there weren't any cars in the parking lot except for his. It was completely deserted.

"Layla…"

"God! Crap, Shit, FU–"

"LAYLA! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

It was as if she completely forgot about him standing right beside her. She stared at him shocked but that didn't allow her to forget about her predicament. She'd rather yell and swear her worries out then be rational and calm about them.

"WHAT?" She screamed at him, "Natsu! Do you not understand how bad the situation is–?"

Natsu rolled his onyx eyes, "Layla! Calm down!" He shouted at her, "Just shut the fuck up and calm your ass down so we can both think"

Her eyes shot up in confusion, "Both of us think? When do you think? Hahaha ok, I'm all right now. Haha that just made my night" She said wiping a tear from her eye. She steadied herself and her breathing went back to normal.

He stared at her blandly, opening his mouth about to yell at her for insulting him but deciding otherwise, "That wasn't intentional but it works if it shuts you up. Alright, now that you're calm, what exactly did you leave in there?"

She thought about it for a moment, "Everything. Everything important" she summarized.

"Layla, be more specific"

"Everything! Homework, wallet, keys, cell phone… Uniform!" she gasped.

"Is it in plain sight?" Natsu asked her calmly.

"No, sort of. It's on the rack, if you were to take a look inside my dressing room, nothing would seem out of the ordinary"

Natsu sighed, "Alright, good. One less thing to worry about."

The night wasn't ending any faster like they had hoped for. It actually felt like time was slowing down, just so they could suffer longer.

So many things happened in the past two weeks, most of them being bad, and now they were irritated and tired. And to top it all off, the current situation became worse.

Natsu scanned the little sign on the glass doors, the opening and closing hours for the agency. "Let's see now… Friday… ah, it opens at nine on Friday" he said, "perfect all we have to do is come back here tomorrow before school. Problem one solved."

"No, problem one, not solved!" Lucy stated, "We don't come here _before _school, we come here _during _school. Class starts at nine, moron!"

"Solution: skip. You have a legible reason"

"Counter: I don't." she said "Being Layla" isn't a good reason when they don't know the secret. And no! I will no tell them"

"Solution: _I _skip, and retrieve your stuff. Like hell I care if I skip" Natsu declared.

"Counter! No, not only are you not going to skip in my name, you don't even have your ID badge"

Because there are many artists and celebrities that come from Fairy Tail, it's only natural for fans or people interested in the industry to try and sneak in, thus the ID badge was created.

For security purposes the ID badge was invented for identification and department. Workers were all given at least one. If you were a guest, you would have to fill a bunch of paperwork, have your bags checked coming in and when you leave the agency.

Natsu smirked, "Solution" he pulled out of his pocket a slim white card with black writing on it. It had his name, department, which was modeling and ID code. The ID code was so no one could just make one at his or her house.

"Okay, problem one: solved" Lucy admitted. For her, it felt good to say those words, "Next problem, how do I get home?"

"Solution: I'll drive you" He said as if the most obvious thing ever.

"Counter: I will not pay you"

"Solution: I never said you had to!" Natsu said, "Do you even have a spare key?"

Lucy stayed quiet, playing with her large green baggy sweater and suddenly taking an interest in the ground.

"Seriously? You don't have a spare?"

"I do! Don't get me wrong! I'm not stupid enough to not have a spare key but…"

"But, you are stupid enough to lose it or forget to put back, right?" Natsu finished, "You know, you're the reason why your life's so hard"

"Yeah, yeah I get it. By the way, it was Erza who forgot to put it back"

"Erza? Why would she use _your _key?"

"I don't really know…"

Natsu rolled his eyes, very confused but didn't press on the subject, "Moving on, instead of going back home, why don't you stay at someone's house?"

Lucy shivered and zipped the sweater up. It was clear they weren't getting anywhere and the doors wouldn't open again for that night. Also it was near eleven-thirty.

"Counter: I don't think anyone's awake now" Lucy yawned.

"Solution: Call them"

"Counter: My phone's inside remember?"

"Okay, pause. Why am I the one thinking of solutions? This is your problem, stop being negative about everything" Natsu realized.

"I'm not being negative, I'm just being reasonable and logical. There are a lot of holes in your reasoning"

"Never mind, what were we talking about before? Right, you need a place to sleep. Onto plan B"

"Plan B? What's plan B?" Lucy questioned suspiciously.

"We need… a suitable sized box!"

The pink-haired teen rubbed the injured spot on his head created by Lucy's smack. "Ow…"

"Moving onto plan C" she huffed angrily.

"Oh that sucks, I don't have a plan C. I only created plan B"

"I wonder why you created Plan B in the first place!"

"I made it up on the spot, thank you. How's that for quick-thinking?" Natsu said.

"It was a terrible plan in the first place"

"Well, why don't you think of something?"

"I'm the one with the bad situation, at least you get to go home!" yelled Lucy in a shrill voice.

"Fine, then how about you stay at my house!" Natsu shouted back angrily "…Wait! What?"

"That's my line!"

An awkward silence crept on the two. Natsu wasn't sure if he meant it and Lucy was un-sure of whether or not to accept it.

Taking responsibility for what he said, he sighed, "Come on get in""What?"

"Do you want to stay out here? Let's go!"

**A/N: The next chapter will be posted later on today, maybe? Really near, still this month, all I can say. Despite only needing to edit, it takes me a while since I don't have time and I only update when I feel that I can't make the chapter worse than it is…. :D**

**This is sort of a filler… well not really, I kinda need it. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed; you are what keeps me going! Thank you!**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	13. Her Question His Actions

**Here you go, I told you it would be soon ^^ Thanks all the support! The reason it took so long was because I couldn't think of a good title.**

**Oh yeah! I got 200 reviews! And a little over 100 faves! Oh my god, that's amazing. Especially for a story created by me, I mean I stink at writing. Thank you, everyone :3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail! **

_Previously…_

_"Fine, then how about you stay at my house!" Natsu shouted back angrily "…Wait! What?"_

_"That's my line!"_

_An awkward silence crept on the two. Natsu wasn't sure if he meant it and Lucy was un-sure of whether or not to accept it._

_Taking responsibility for what he said, he sighed, "Come on get in""What?"_

_"Do you want to stay out here? Let's go!"_

Chapter 13: Her Question. His Actions

~Normal POV

Natsu's house was huge. It was so big, that it probably isn't even fair to call it a house anymore. But that's what's expected for the rich son of a successful CEO president. And only having a big house meant little imagination. The yachts were probably in the back of his house or already at his private pier, or at least that was what Lucy imagined Natsu to have.

A large mansion with stonewalls, pearl white doors and a dark gray roof. Balconies and stone pillars that accentuated the grandeur of the house and decorative glass windows everywhere.

The outside looked even more extravagant with a big rectangular fountain in front of the house. Water was spewing and there were lights in the nozzles and the colors changed every now and then.

Being rich allowed many possibilities, or in any case that's what Lucy expected. Especially in her point of view, a teenager who works and studies all the time in comparison to someone who has boat loads of money and boats all together.

Natsu entered the driveway and parked the car. They both got out and went inside. The inside was just as grand as its exterior.

Lucy was now Lucy. Being Layla ten minutes ago, she decided to become her real identity. That way Lucy could move around more freely without having to worry about revealing her secret. However it wasn't her actual goal.

"_Hey… Natsu" Lucy started._

"_What?" He replied not taking his eyes off the road._

_Ask him. Ask him! Lucy thought._

"…_Natsu I know you don't like Lucy, but I'm going to change into her before we get to your house, Ok?" Said Lucy though it wasn't what she wanted to ask.._

_She couldn't really "Change" into Lucy; she didn't have any clothes to change into. But revealing her shoulder-length blonde hair was preferable then having to stay as Layla, sleep as Layla and take a shower as Layla._

"_Whatever it's your life… lives?"_

_She laughed, "I'm also leaving my hair in your car"_

"_That's creepy, please don't ever say that again" _

_She rolled her eyes. She bent down and gently unclipped and removed the smooth brown hair. She proceeded to remove the tight bald cap and untied her golden yellow hair._

"_That feels so much better!" she said._

_Sort of… she thought._

First was a small room where they took off their shoes and put on slippers. But despite the small space, it was still decorated. White crown moldings, mirrors acting as the doors to the coat closet and a fancy little bench for people to sit on.

When you exited the little foyer you immediately entered the luxurious living room. It was big and there was large furniture. Cream white walls and a tan brown couch with a recliner of the same style. There were paintings of sceneries, a clock and a mirror on the walls.

"The kitchen's down the hall. Recreational room, bathroom, dining room, library…"

"I get it, there are a lot of rooms," She said.

"And more, are down the hall. So don't get lost" He summed up.

She rolled her eyes. All she needed was a bed and a ride to school. Speaking of which, "Natsu you brought your homework back here before going to work right?"

"Yep, let me guess, you want to do it?"

Lucy nodded, "I did most of it, there are only a few questions I need to do. Of course the part I did is back at Fairy Tail"

"I don't even think I brought the right subjects home," Natsu said.

"Math and science" She said robotically off the top of her head.

"Wow you really care about homework," he noted.

"Yep, and you should too"

"No thanks" he said as if declining an offer.

A maid with purple hair walked up to the two. She barely had emotion on her face and she wore gray heavy chains on her wrists.

"You make her wear chains?" Lucy asked disgusted.

"No! I don't, for some reason she just does," He defended himself, "Hey Virgo"

"Good evening. Natsu are you hungry? I can have the chefs make something," The purple-haired maid offered.

"You hungry?"

Lucy shyly shook her head. Chefs, maids and a thousand rooms, all of it made her feel out of place.

"It's okay Virgo, but do me a favor and prepare one of the guest bedrooms," Natsu requested.

"Do you want a specific one?"

_Specific one? How many are there? Damn rich people. Hold on a minute, if it weren't for this damn rich person I would be living in a box tonight… never mind _Lucy thought.

"The one on the ground floor near the library, she still wants to homework" Virgo nodded understanding, "There's a computer in the library for you to use," he told Lucy.

"Don't you mean there are books for me to use?"

"Well there is, but get real, who uses books when you have the Internet"

Lucy decided not to argue; though he had a point, she was someone who used reference books.

"Virgo prepare a bath and a set of clothes for her" instructed Natsu.

"Right away, Goshujin-sama follow me please"

"If you need anything just ask Virgo, she'll help" Natsu added before the two women headed off on their own.

Virgo led her to the guest bedroom she would use. They passed a small bathroom and the kitchen. Lucy did her best to attempt to memorize the pathway they took. It was like Natsu said, don't get lost.

The room was luxurious and expensive looking along with the rest of the house. The walls were a rich vibrant red with white crown moldings in the corner. Their was a large glass door covered by gold and orange drapes, it lead to a balcony. The same sheets covered other windows.

Their was a large king sized four poster bed. It was comfortable and the pillows were soft as clouds. The bedspread matched the drapes and two mini wooden side tables sat next to the bed. A mahogany wooden dresser with a mirror was perched against the wall.

"Goshujin-sama…" Virgo stared.

"Umm… Virgo? Can I ask you not to call me thatplease?" Lucy said.

"Ojou-sama…?"

"No…"

"…Hime?"

"…Yeah…"

"Hime-sama…"

It was in that instant where Lucy wanted to face palm. "Uh… no, please don't add _sama_"

"Shall there be a punishment?"

With a wide-eyed look, she question the maid's thoughts, "No that's fine… umm what were you saying before?"

"Yes, Hime, this shall be your room, please if you need anything please do not hesitate to ask" Virgo said.

"Ah, right…"

There was a door that led to the on suite bathroom. The bathroom was just as grand as the room itself. White tiles, a walk-in shower and water-jet bathtub. A large vanity and the toilet bowl had its own little corner.

"Just a minute Hime" Virgo left the room and entered the bathroom to prepare it, "When you finish there shall be clothes already prepared for you, excuse-me" and she left.

It was relaxing, there was a sweet aromatic scent of lavender while she soaked herself. The tub was bigger then what she was used to. The entire bathroom was bigger then her bedroom back at her apartment. Hell Lucy figured the entire guest bedroom was bigger then her apartment.

Though she liked the luxury of it all, it wasn't her type of thing. Lucy was never a flashy girl, or a materialistic one at that. So being literally bathed in all this extravagance was emitting a rather uncomfortable feeling.

When she finished pampering her self for once, she wrapped herself in a soft towel and searched the guest bedroom for the clothes Virgo said she would retrieve. Lucy spotted them on the dresser; she did not like what she saw.

* * *

"Virgo you don't happen to have, I don't know, any other clothes?" Lucy asked with all the hope she had riding on a thin malleable string.

An over-sized shirt was on her dresser with oversized shorts. The reason everything was oversized was because they weren't even female clothes, but male ones. More precisely, Natsu's clothes.

"Lucy, seriously?" Natsu asked, worn out. "They're clothes"

They had gathered in the guest bedroom, where Natsu lay down on the bed, Virgo was standing straight near the door and Lucy was pacing around.

"They're not just any clothes, they're yours," she snapped "And I don't want to wear your clothes. Do you know how embarrassing that is?"

"Says the one in a towel" he said, "Looking good by the way," he added, winking.

It was neither a complement nor an insult because he barely meant it. It was more of a sign towards her, as she's a vulnerable teenage girl dressed in a flexible towel, while he was a teenage boy, lean and built. Plus it was his home.

She didn't respond to his remark and subconsciously pulled the damp fabric upwards. Her hair was wrapped in another towel but was still very wet.

"Isn't there any alternative?"

"Lucy you're making a big deal out of nothing" Natsu said, "It's twelve in the morning"

…_He's right; I am over reacting. Don't tell me… No! _she thought.

"What about your sister?" Lucy proposed quickly.

Natsu paused before answering. "First Wendy and I aren't brother and sister, we're step-brother and step-sister, second we aren't even that anymore so were not related at all and third Wendy is younger then you and by far a lot smaller then you in height and chest area. They won't fit"

"Whoa! Wait a second what do you mean, "step" and "not related at all"?"

He didn't answer again looking sullen all of a sudden, "Virgo can you leave the room for a second"

"Yes, I also have an idea of extra clothing attire for Hime" she curtsied and left the guest bedroom.

He heaved a large sigh, "I told you I didn't want to go into this"

"And I told you I was curious" she stated, "you already started now elaborate please"

"It's as I said, we're actually step-brother and sister. My dad divorced and then married Grandine, Wendy's mom. Then they divorced a few months back so now we're not family anymore. End of story"

Lucy became quiet. The topic 'family' was quite touchy subject for her. Someone who never really had the "warm-comforting" feeling a family gives wouldn't know and could only dream about it. The warmest thing she had to a family was her friends.

"Even if you aren't related by blood, or by the law, you're still family" She whispered.

"…I know you don't have to tell me that" He said.

A silence overtook the two teenagers. It was neither awkward nor heavy but it was as if they were trying to decide who should talk first.

_Now! Ask him now; it's the perfect time! Do it! _Floated in Lucy's mind.

"N-Natsu? Can I ask you something?" She stuttered.

He looked at her, "You already did."

"No, I-I uh… well, um"

"Yeah?"

"Well… I was wondering, why um… why do you prefer me over Layla?" She whispered Layla's name in case Virgo came back already.

He was surprised by the question, "That came out of no where didn't it?"

"I just… I don't understand. You hate me don't you?" She explained.

"Hate is a strong word, how about strongly dislike?"

"Either way you don't like Lucy, so why do you not prefer Layla?"

"Why would I prefer Layla? I rest my case when I said she snobby and demanding back when I was supposed to work with her the first time. Why would anyone prefer someone snobby and demanding?" He said.

He got off the bed and walked towards her. With every step closer, Lucy found herself taking a step back.

"And I rest mine when I said she's not! That would mean I'm snobby and demanding and I don't think I am… or I hope not at least"

"Aren't you contradicting yourself when you say that? Didn't you say Lucy and Layla were two different people?"

"Well yeah…"

"Exactly, Lucy's annoying and weird not snobby and demanding"

His onyx eyes were serious and looking directly into hers. With both arms on either side of Lucy and pinning and trapping her onto the wall opposite of the door.

"W-what are you doing?" She said doing her best to stay calm.

"Looking into the beautiful chocolate brown eyes of the girl I prefer" His face was really close to hers, their noses barely touching.

"Just kidding! Haha" He said removing his prison and setting her free. He turned around heading back for the bed, _what did I just do?_

She slid to the ground breathing hard, _what was that?_

A knock was emitted on the other side of the doors. "Natsu, Hime, I brought them" Virgo interrupted.

He pondered about what clothes she could have brought. He then grinned at the realization, "Ah come in. Oh Lucy I know you're going to like my clothes instead"

Virgo passed the black and white clothes, identical to her own, to Lucy. When the blonde held them high to see what they were she blushed furiously and threw them at the smirking Natsu.

"Fine I'll wear your clothes!" she yelled.

He got up, "Are you sure, it's probably the only time where you'll be offered to wear a _maid _outfit" she threw a pillow at him, "God you really do make a big deal out of nothing" He left the room laughing with Virgo following behind him.

Lucy huffed in and out, feeling hot on the inside despite wearing only a wet towel.

_No! No I'm not!_

* * *

They successfully returned the clothes before anyone had noticed, Lucy retrieved all her stuff back to her relief and they headed back to school. Lucy gave in her completed homework and Natsu couldn't care less about the rest.

All's well that ends well.

Well sort of.

Lucy couldn't be alone with Natsu without remembering moments that triggered any blushing. She couldn't look at him anymore nor could she talk to him normally.

Natsu was still very confused with his actions. While he could talk to Lucy, he too couldn't be alone with her and honestly he would rather they didn't talk so he found himself avoiding her. On his part and hers.

Despite avoiding each other, they did an excellent job acting like nothing happened. Plus, they didn't talk to each other that much in school anyways.

But it couldn't last forever…

To: My Idiot Son  
From: Your totally amazing father!

Don't forget to ask her ;)

Natsu growled at the text he received for two reasons. One, his dad uses emoticons. Two, he had completely forgotten about it.

At the end of school, they were glad to see a new weekend.

Natsu searched for someone before looking for the blonde. He found Lucy exiting the school gate and sadly alone.

He slowly drove his car along with her, "Yo! Lucy!"

She jumped a little.

"Do you need a lift?" he offered.

"No it's okay, you've done…enough for me thanks"

"You sure? All right, then, question! You busy on Sunday?"

"Yes I am, sorry"

"Okay, I asked out of courtesy, but I already know you aren't, thank you Mirajane"

"Ok, I'm not," she admitted, "So what do you want me to do? I owe you a lot already"

"Yep, fifteen bucks"

"I'm not giving you that!"

He had to stop for a red light but Lucy kept going.

When he finally caught up he replied, "Saturday, tomorrow, six o'clock. Dress up as Layla. My dad and his business buddies want to meet you"

"What?" She exclaimed.

"Don't worry I got you covered with clothing and all the other sparkly crap you have to put on. Just smile and…don't talk" He concluded, "K, see you tomorrow"

"Huh?"

"Remember six!" and he drove away before he could hear her reply.

"Just when I was glad the week was over, something new appears!"

**A/N: I realized I always leave a small cliffhanger, oh well. So a little bit of Natsu's past. A little bit of NaLu. I'm doing my best guys, two chapters in one month (though the first one was barely a chapter).**

**Goshujin-sama: Mistress**

**Ojou-sama: lady**

**Hime: princess**

**Yes, I used that scene ;)**

**And yes, a lot more things are happening in their lives, sorry if you think it's too much…**

**Leave a review. See you next month! Thanks~**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian**


	14. Reluctant Dining

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Hope you enjoy… :3**

Chapter 14: Reluctant Dining

~Natsu's POV

Sunday – One Week Ago

"Welcome" I smiled politely forcing myself not to grind my teeth, "Thank you for coming…"

The adult couple flashed an insincere smile at me; I just held my fake smile to the best of my ability. It wasn't that hard since no one really paid attention to me. And for once, I actually prefer it that way…

It was Sunday night, two days after my first date with Lucy, scratch that, Layla. We haven't talked since so I'm assuming everything's okay. If it weren't then Lucy would be shouting at me.

"Natsu, get dressed, the maids have your clothing attire ready in your room" my dads assistant said, Warren Rocko, "I'll greet the guests here for you"

"Why can't I wear this?" I motioned to the baggy black shirt and jeans, "It's a just a stupid dinner"

"Natsu, you know this dinner is important" Warren said, "Go change!"

"If it's for business, then everything's important! Except for me, so why can't I skip it?"

"What are you going to eat for dinner?" He asked me skeptically.

I didn't answer, "I'll hang out in my room then, just send someone with a tray of cookies and milk" I proposed.

"Yeah, and a red outfit and a gigantic bag of presents while I'm at it" Warren said sarcastically, "Upstairs, change, be down in ten minutes, now" He ordered.

I groaned walking up the stairs slowly, taking as much I time as I needed – wanted. When I got to my room, the suit I was told to wear was lying on my bed. Sleek black silk, cotton white dress shirt and a navy blue tie. I looked at it, repulsed.

Lately I've been wearing this type of clothing a lot. My preferred style is shirt and pants; actually sometimes I don't wear a shirt but a vest.

Truthfully, I don't even need to be here for this stupid dinner. Correction, I don't want to be here for this stupid dinner. Actually it's both.

If it has nothing to do with me but have everything to do with my dad then why do I have to be here?

While I love the meal "Dinner" and I love food, the portions given out are extremely tiny; you would need a magnifying glass to see it and I have good eyesight.

And then there's the fact that there's no one here my age. Then again all their kids are all stuck-up bitches who think they're all that! They don't give a damn about anyone else except their parent's money.

This results in me having to "mingle" as Warren says, with the adults, which I don't like doing. They're even more stuck-up and bitchier then the kids they've created but whatever! It's probably genetic.

I sighed and changed anyways. I did my best to prolong my stay in my room but eventually a maid came upstairs and called for me.

"Natsu-sama, Your father is calling you" knocked a maid from behind my door.

I opened it and looked at the purple haired maid, "Virgo, I've told you this a million times, you don't need to add _–sama _to my name"

I don't like Sama. When you add Sama after my name it's because you most likely know who my old man is and you're treating me with respect. I would prefer no respect at all. At least I know you're treating me the way you want to, not because you feel obliged or you want something out of my family name.

"Will there be a punishment, Natsu-sama?" She asked, her facial expression not changing a bit.

I sighed while rolling my eyes. I closed my door behind me and proceeded to walk slowly to the dining hall.

I live in a mansion, a rather simple one with a large open concept layout at that, so it was natural that the dining hall would be huge with high ceilings, crown moldings and large archways.

It connected to the kitchen so it would easier for butlers and maids to bring food in and out during occasions such as this one and it connected to the living room.

The large and long dining table was in the middle of the room and the entire place was prepared with a large white tablecloth and decorative table pieces laid out on it.

The plates, knives, forks and spoons were already prepared. Each plate had three glasses, one for water, another for a specific drink and a tall wine glass. All the seats were labeled with a nametag. Seeing how my old man is hosting this stupid dinner, the chance of everyone wanting to talk to him is high, in other words sit next to him and you're advantageous.

It's funny how even now the adults would start beating the shit out of each other just to sit next to someone specific.

Doesn't that remind you of kindergarten?

I took my seat where I sat in between my dad and Warren and two other families who received the privilege of sitting next to my family, The "Teichi" family and the "Ayame" family, who ever they are.

The guests found their seats and many groans could be heard. A swarm of butlers and maids came in holding trays of food. I often just sit there and do nothing. Let's just say, Natsu isn't event here.

First the appetizers came, such as soup or salad. I sat there and ate, often stealing a cherry tomato from Warren or taking his crackers. It's funny because he never realizes that its me. Like a ninja, nin-nin.

My dad and Warren on the other hand happily socialized away.

"Oh yeah, my son is dating the beautiful model Layla" My dad bragged.

I choked upon hearing his words.

I quickly gulped down some water with Warren patting me on the bag. I started to breathe heavily, "Girlfriend? What girlfri– Oh right, Lu…ayla! Layla…" I said in the most convincing tone I could muster.

Why did she appear?

"Luayla?" said a man sitting in front of me. He had dark hair and dark eyes; his nose was rather pointy to the point that it curved.

"Teichi-san family," whispered Warren, "He runs an oil company"

I laughed my mistake off, "haha, Layla, Teichi-san, her name is Layla…" Does Layla have a last name?

"You should bring her next time," said what I presume to be Teichi-san's wife since she sat _very _close to him.

"…Layla? Uh… she can't, she's um, busy…?" I said improvising. I don't know Lucy's schedule so I really can't say anything.

"Are you sure Natsu? You don't sound very sure" Teichi-san asked.

"I… yes"

"That's a great idea! Natsu you should bring her, I too would love to meet the young lady" Igneel said.

Well my dad loves to create problems for me.

"I can't bring her if she's busy!" I protested.

"Well surely she can come to a ball my family's hosting next week," said a different lady. Her back was straight and so was her long black hair. Her blue eyes were sharp and full of expectations.

I have never seen her in my life. I've heard of the Teichi family before I just forgot them, but I haven't seen her before.

"Ah you must be, Ayame Yuki," My dad said standing up to shake her hand.

Her husband stood up too. I remember him but not her, who the fuck is she?

My dad and the man shook hands also, "Congratulations on getting re-married, Takeru"

"They run the Ayame-Fashion line. She designs and he owns all the material and fabric," Warren whispered.

The man, known as Takeru, had black hair also, he had large brown eyes hiding behind rectangular glasses and he was noticeably short, "Thank you Igneel, so how about it Natsu? Bring your girlfriend to our ball?"

All the eyes looked at me waiting only to hear one answer. "Y-yeah… Sure" That is what you call peer-pressure.

"Perfect, I would love to talk to her also" Takeru said but I just zoned out after that.

I now need a favor from Lucy. Life just keeps on getting better and better.

* * *

Dinner was over and everyone headed into the living room to talk to one another. Since you were only able to talk to those around you during dinner this was the time to talk to someone specific and make deals, requests and transactions.

There were caterers walking around, some serving wine in tall glasses and other platters had mini finger foods.

I grabbed platter of food and sat down on a couch in farthest corner. I took my phone out and started to play random games, going on the internet and doing whatever I can think of to make the time pass by quicker. And every once in a while I took a glance at the guest and always felt the need to throw up.

I found myself walking towards another caterer after finishing three trays of crackers, six trays of vegetables and two cheese and cheese-stuffed mushrooms and now searching for a tray of fruit, one with a chocolate fondue dip with it.

After sitting back down, I left the tray on the table and stared the lady who took a seat next to me. It was the same women at dinner, the one with the straight black hair who seemed very full of herself. What was her name? Ayema Ruki? Something like that….

She looked at me and looked very eager to start a conversation, I however decided to ignore it and act like I hadn't noticed. I resumed back to playing with phone, if I talk to her, the apocalypse will come. Nothing good comes out of these dinners. This is the worst part of all dinners.

But it was unavoidable; for once food had betrayed me. The little perfectly cut up fruit was her conversation starter, the start for my end.

"Natsu? I'm sorry for interrupting" She smiled a devil smile, "but do you mind if have one?" She pointed to the tray.

I lifted my head from my phone and smiled but gritted my teeth "Go ahead"

"Thank you" Man her evil smile is suffocating me!

I went back playing with my alarm and countdown time when she decided to talk once more, "Natsu, you know strawberries aren't in season so normally they wouldn't taste as sweet but these ones are delicious! Where did you buy them?"

I have to get away, "I don't know! You should ask the chef, no how rude, let me ask them for you!"

She quickly grabbed my wrist before I even stood up, "No it's okay Natsu. You don't have to go through all that trouble"

Oh my fucking god, she wants something. They always want something.

"Natsu, I would like to ask you something, if you don't mind…" She started. Her hand hadn't let go of my wrist and if anything the grip tightened.

I don't mind. Thank you for your concern. NOT!

"Natsu, I have a small request for you" Her smile continued, "My husband and your father a discussing matters right now"

There's a reason why she said that.

Come on. Hurry up and…

As if on cue my phone started ringing and vibrating, "Excuse me, I have to take this," I politely said yanking my wrist away and strutting off.

I turned the random 10:42 alarm off and just headed towards the library, no one would ever think I was there.

* * *

Sunday – Present

"And that's what happened" I told Lucy, "That's why you're here"

Lucy was playing with her gigantic puffy pink dress. "Urgh, okay, I get I'm here to meet you dad and to talk to the Ayame family but why… Why did you make me wear such a horrid looking dress?"

I was the one who set up what Layla was to wear for this event. I made sure she had no say in anything. I also arranged all of her make-up to be done and her fake brown hair. And most importantly I made sure she didn't look as good as normally does…

What?

She's always ugly so it was easy…

Anyways the pink puffy dress was huge, like a wannabe prom dress. It made her look bigger then normal, the sleeves were short but puffed up and big pearly beads rimmed the bottom and all around.

"I don't want you talking to anyone unless you have to" I said checking my watch, "I want you to have your phone on you at all times in case we can leave early and I want you to spend most of the night in the bathroom"

"What? Why? No! I refuse"

"I wasn't giving you the option!"

"And I wasn't agreeing with it!"

"Holy shit, you're just as "Horrid" as the dress, as you say"

"You know the dress looks ugly?" She demanded.

"Well I needed something that would make people stay away from you"

She looked like she was going to burst, "Natsu! You idiot, I'm a model, I'm supposed to look good this is going to ruin the reputation I work so hard for"

"Layla, You don't know what goes on in there. It's better for you not to get involved"

"I can take of myself"

"I don't care what you can do, the people in there are power-hungry and they love money… more then their children! Worst of all there another girl our age in there, who knows what influence she's under" I tried to keep my temper in check.

"Fine! I won't talk to anyone unless needed to but I'm not staying in the bathroom the entire night and I'm going to make this dress look decent"

I was about to protest when she walked away grumbling about searching for scissors. "Layla… Keep your phone…!"

I rolled my eyes and stepped into the battlefield, the ballroom of the Ayema family. Wait! Lucy said it was Ayame.

Everyone was dressed up formally all the way to the women wearing shawls and gloves and the men wearing pocket hankies and even pocket watches.

I looked around wearily and made my way to the buffet of food. I filled several plates with food and took a seat down and started munching away when I was approached by none other than Ayame Yuki.

Her smiled was a lot more forced and her eyes were filled with complete determination, "Natsu! You were able to make it," She said.

"…yep" I said simply.

"Where's your girlfriend? I do hope you brought her"

"Bathroom" She better be.

"I see, well shall we continue the conversation from before we rudely interrupted by your phone?"

My eyes lit up in alarm, "That reminds me, my dad wanted to meet Layla I've got to go. I hope we can finish this later"

Thanks to my keen sense of hearing I heard Ayame mutter in a rather angry tone, "We will"

I left the seat in a hurry looking for Lucy. They want something from me and Lucy's in the way that or it's the opposite, they want something from Lucy and I'm in the way. I really hope it's neither.

I left the ballroom and kept my eyes peeled for an ugly pink dress. It shouldn't be too hard to find one.

Little did I know Layla was following someone to get scissors, to make her dress look less disturbingly ugly and that someone would make life harder, make it more complicated and more aggravating for the both of us.

**I'm starting to get excited and I'm also starting to get sleepy, (Haven't slept very well :P)**

**Sorry! For being really late. Sorry for missing December. Sorry for most likely going to miss February. Sorry! You know what, global warming probably my fault, so I'll just apologize for that also. I'm sorry for global warming.**

***sigh, okay, so while I have no real good reason for not updating I will say this,**

**1. I have semi-Writer's Block. "Semi" being, I have Ideas I just can't figure out how to word it and normally I can do that.**

**2. Add to that, I no longer am in the mood to write. NO! I have not stopped writing Flash; I just don't feel motivated to type something for a chapter. I write a little bit every week but it's not at a sufficient speed to complete a chapter every I write a little bit everyday but it's not at a sufficient speed to complete a chapter every month.**

**3. To top it all off, I'm extremely busy. So busy and this year's an important year for me and I have to get my priorities straight. I'm not saying "Flash" and Your guys aren't a priority, I'm just saying I want to continue reading manga and still get good grades.**

**4. I recently got into Kuroko no Basuke. But that has nothing to with this…^^ I felt the need to proclaim it to the fanfiction world**

**See you guys later, I'll do my best, Btw reviews are my motivations if you get my drift… ("Get my drift"? )**

**~.x.X.x.~Serullian**


	15. Ayame Maya

**Hi! I'm alive, no I have not been hit by a car (refer to chapter 1) After … four months? Five? A really long time, I finally finished one. One with 3295 words, So enjoy :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

_Previously…_

_Little did I know Layla was following someone to get scissors, to make her dress look less disturbingly ugly and that someone would make life harder, make it more complicated and more aggravating for the both of us._

Chapter 15: Ayame Maya

~Lucy's POV

ARGH! I'm. So. Stupid! All my accomplishments may say otherwise but let me tell you, I am. I'm an idiot. I can't be any clearer then this: LAYLA is an idiot.

Layla is, Lucy is not, so there is no confusion.

I did it. I talked. So many regrets, just by saying "Really? Thank you!" I talked to someone, and that someone really pisses me off now but back then she seemed harmless. I am starting to understand Natsu.

I told Natsu I wouldn't talk to anyone while I was here at this party and…I broke his rule. Normally I'd be okay about that, I often don't care if I break _his_ rules but this time it feels _different_. It's more like I should follow them obediently. I know this but what do I do? I break it. I break it like dropping one the fancy china's at this party.

After I scampered off from our conversation, to search for a pair of scissors (That idiot Natsu! forcing me to wear this disgusting dress) I bumped into somebody.

"Oh I'm sorry," She said, and then she noticed my dress and her eyes widened, "Whoa! Uh…" She looked like she wanted to say something but forced herself not to and just smiled.

"I…I know it looks terrible"

"No, not at all" Her voice suddenly went high pitch. We both laughed.

"Do you know where I can get scissors, or something?" I asked.

"To make the dress prettier? Yeah sure, follow me"

"Really? Thank you!"

She had shiny black hair with a red flower hairpiece clipping all her hair to one side. She had rather long straight bangs but it didn't cover her brown eyes. She had high cheekbones and makeup that made her eyes darker but it gave her a mature look.

Her dress was a mellow pastel pink and around her shoulders was a matching shawl. It was long and flowing like pink waves in the ocean that reached the floor and covered her feet.

It was the complete opposite of mine. Her dress was stunning; mine was a lethal weapon that blinded people if you looked at it.

In a small summary, she was beautiful. That didn't bother me though. What was bothersome was the fact that she was my age.

Worst of all there another girl our age in there, who knows what influence she's under Natsu told me.

She led me down the hallway and turned a corner. She looked over to me and smiled, "I'm Maya by the way".

I can't help but feel weird when I see that smile but I returned one back anyways, "Layla, pleasure to meet you"

She stopped making me stop, "Layla, the model, the one dating _Natsu Dragneel_?"

"Yep, the one and only"

She snickered, "Heh, I thought you'd be prettier," she said using an insulting tone of voice.

Though I only met her a few minutes ago, that was a drastic personality change. "Excuse me?"

"And your dress choice is terrible" She continued walking leaving me dumbfounded.

I quickly caught up to her and demanded what she meant, "First of all, it was Natsu who bought this dress"

"I highly doubt that, the material is cheap. You're really expecting me to believe Natsu Dragneel bought _that_?" She spat.

"Believe it or not, it's true"

"Whatever" we arrived in front of a door with a bronze plaque on it. The word "Material" engraved in it.

She opened the door and when we went in hundreds of different materials was on display. There were several sewing machines, all of them different brands and versions, even a loom in the corner. A few headless mannequins on display, some had material on them other were just naked and bare. There were multiple drawers with on big one only containing a bunch of scissors.

"We have more materials in that room" She said but it sounded more like bragging not that I cared.

"We?"

She looked at me, "My parents own the building, which means all the material in it"

Maya… _Ayame_ Maya.

AH! SHIT! THIS IS EVEN WORSE!

The person I had to talk to just has to be a Fruitloopin' Ayame! Why? Why is Life against me?

She grabbed a pair of scissors and roughly dragged me in front of a mirror.

"Do you not like me…or something?" I asked rubbing my wrists.

"I don't actually" She said. Maya looked at the dress, up and down, "let's see what do I have to work with"

It's not your dress, but sure go ahead you can decorate it!I thought sarcastically.

"You don't like me why?"

She grabbed one the puffy sleeves and yanked it off cleanly, "Yep cheap" There were still a few loose strands hanging off but in any case it was definitely an improvement. The big balls of fabric fell to my wrists. Maya grabbed two strings of black ribbon and wrapped it around the middle of the fallen fabric. She made very nice and neat bows.

She's ignoring me!

"Because," Maya then looked at the body of the dress.

"Because?"

Maya glared at me, "Can I work without you pestering me"

"It's my dress!" I yelled at her, which wasn't a bright idea because she had a pair of scissors in her hands and she looked like really wanted to stab me with them, "Why don't I do the work?"

She seemed really irritated and she glared at me giving me the impression she had no desire whatsoever to give me the scissors but did so anyways.

I started cutting off most of layers underneath that made the dress way too big and the puffiness decreased by a lot. I was then going to remove the randomly placed beads when she said, "You should remove the beads they're hideous"

I stared at her, "I know, that's what I was going to do" I'm not sure if my tone of voice was harsh or not but I was starting to get annoyed with Maya.

The dress was indeed very cheap because the beads practically fell off when I tugged on them lightly. The only beads I left on were the ones that rimmed right underneath by breasts. I cut a few pieces of string that stuck out and the overall appearance was so much better then what it was before.

"Here, put this around your waist and make the dress shorter" Maya said handing me a wider piece of black ribbon.

"I was thinking of leaving it like this" I said.

"No" she said simply with an air of superiority.

"Excuse me?"

"Your dress looks like mine, I can't have that," she said angrily.

"What? What are you talking about? Our dresses look nothing alike! Your dress is so much better then mine!" I honestly was very confused. Maya was angry for some reason and I found out that she's really bossy.

"Just shut up!" And that is what you call true colors coming out. She started to laugh hysterically, "Look, I don't like you"

"I know. We already established this!" I said. The confusion in me still alive and growing.

She looked at me with disgust, "I want something, and I _always _get what I want" She started, "And little "Rising Model Layla" Happens to have it!" She grunted despite her lady-like appearance. "It's annoying, helping someone,"

"And you helped me why?" I questioned. I'm starting to understand why Natsu hates these things. It's all making sense.

Ayame Maya is crazy.

"Help? I was going to make it look uglier and then you suddenly too control of the designing"

"You sound shocked! It's my dress I do what I want to it" I said enraged.

"No, it's not your dress. It's Natsu's. Speaking of which, break up with him!"

* * *

~Natsu's POV

That girl! Where the hell did she go? Dammit!

I waited near the entrance of ballroom but there was no sign of Lucy. I texted her repeatedly and called her countless times but nothing!

That idiot, she must have talked to someone. If there weren't so many people to see me then I might've thrown a fit.

Layla waltzed in a few seconds later with her dress transformed. Her electric pink dress loose and smooth. The length was shorter, just below the knees but it was also jagged and uneven and ripped all over, as if she had a fight with six cats. But in any case she pulled it off. There was black ribbon in certain areas and she even wore a string of it around her neck.

"Layla!" I marched over to her, "What the hell did you do to that dress?" No doubt she was pretty again.

"This clearly!" Lucy said in a grumpy mood.

"I'm pretty sure I told you why it was ugly in the first place," I told her, "The dress was the only thing keeping her from talking to people".

"Quite the opposite actually! This dress is what got people to talk to me!"

"WHAT? What people? Who talked to you?" I demanded.

"Person", She corrected even though she was the one who said it first.

I rolled my eyes, "What person?"

"A woman"

"Her name is?"

"…Sorry. A-Aya…" She started, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, okay? I am really sorry. SORRY!"

Lucy stopped talking abruptly and looked to the ground for comfort. She started to shake and her eyes became glazed with tears. I was most certainly caught off guard by this.

I dragged her away to an empty sitting room. Lucy took a seat on the couch and even lay down when she felt herself become dizzy.

"Lucy," I whispered just in case, "Who did you talk to?"

She gave no reply. Instead she averted her eyes into the cushions of the couch and whispered her name but I heard it anyways with my keen sense of hearing.

"Shit! Ayame Maya? You're fucking kidding me!" I said furiously.

She made a whimper that confirmed that she wasn't joking around. I forced myself to calm down.

"God Dammit!" I cursed. I was angry don't get me wrong but for some reason it seemed more like Lucy was suffering the most. "Your positive it was her?"

She sat back up and nodded her head.

"Are you sure your just not feeling feverish?" I sat next to Lucy and put my hand on her forehead. Lucy removed my hand away almost smiling.

"Or maybe you're just blind" I covered both her eyes with my hands, "You know be cause you're always looking at my blinding shining features"

And this time she laughed, "Sorry"

"Whatever, what's done is done. I mean if you just listened to me in the first place by hiding in the bathroom we wouldn't be in this mess but nope you just had to revert back to being pretty"

After a long silence, she said, "I get it."

"Get what?"

"Maya truly is a "little slut, snobby and demanding"

"Those words sound familiar"

"They should, they came out of your mouth" Lucy said.

"Where is this going?"

"In the beginning, when you were about to work with Layla… me for the first time" Lucy explained, "You called Layla a, and I quote, "little slut, snobby and demanding""

"So? Are you agreeing with me now? I don't get it"

"You also said that, Layla is a "bitch" and that she only acts like that because of her reputation"

"Still not following"

"Well I understand now. Maya truly is all of that and only acts nice because of her reputation in order to get what she wants" She continued on, "I understand why you assumed Layla would be like that, seeing how you seem like your more experienced with rich brats"

"That is true I have been doing stuff like this since I was born, which is why I can probably fix anything that needs to be fixed, you just have tell me what she said" I replied.

She still remained silent.

"What did that Maya chick tell you? Whatever she said, don't believe her!" I tried consoling Lucy.

"Did you talk to her mom yet?"

"What? No of course not, I've been avoiding her!"

"W-well It's what she wants…"

"That is?"

* * *

"Ah, you must be the young lady who has tragically fallen in love with my poor pathetic excuse for a son"

I kicked my old man in the shin, for calling me "poor pathetic excuse for a son" and for also saying, "tragically fallen in love". We are not in love, and he knows that!

But Lucy paid no attention to the words instead Lucy stared in awe. Most likely at Igneel's dark yet flaming red hair. He gets that a lot so all he did was laugh.

"G-good evening, Mr. Dragneel. I'm Layla" She held out her hand so they can shake hands.

My dad shook it and chuckled, "I know and you can call me Igneel"

"A-are you sure?"

"Call him whatever you want, crazy, idiot man, whatever you want" I told Lucy. It was odd, introducing my fake girlfriend to my father.

She didn't know how to react and just laughed flimsily.

Igneel glared at me and then looked at her seriously, "You're very beautiful, I can't understand why you and my son – "

I kicked him in the leg cutting him off.

"Did you know that you're the longest relationship Natsu has been – " Igneel attempted to add in until I kicked him again.

"Before I forget, I wanted to thank you for taking care of my son, he's a handful and an idiot – "

One more kick ought to do it.

"Actually I wanted to thank you," Layla finally chimed in.

"Oh for what?"

"I heard you arranged for Natsu to model on that _fateful _day, and the next thing I knew it we were…dating" Those words sounded completely normal to those who didn't know the circumstances. However in my ears, though it was not a grudge, she definitely gritted her teeth.

"Haha Layla, you're very funny, if you heard that then you know it was I who prompted Natsu to – "

Nope, hopefully that was the last kick of the night.

Lucy put on a bewildered face.

"I'll tell you later –" I promised her but was cut a bit too early because an Ayame was in view. I grabbed Lucy's hand and turned to my father, "Uh dad," I started, running a hand through my hair, "We're gonna dance"

"Yes, yes. Children nowadays. Go have fun"

I dragged Lucy away and saw in the corner of my eye, Igneel greeted Ayame Yuki. With my keen sense of hearing, I heard her curse but she acted like she was happy to talk to my old man.

We arrived on the dance floor where I awkwardly put my arms around her waist, at the same time I was on the look out for any sign of Ayames.

At first we just swayed back and forth to the beat of the slow music however gradually we actually started dancing.

Her grip on my neck tightened and she looked into my eyes dead-set, "What did your dad mean back then?"

"It's nothing bad, don't worry"

"Then tell me!"

"The threats I received to date you were from Erza, Mirajane and my dad. Go to a hospital with a very bad reputation or date you was the option. Then Mira and Erza cheated a called my dad. He said he would fire all the maids and cooks had I not helped you"

"I see… but he doesn't know my secret"

"No, he doesn't know about your double lives"

She sighed in relief; I twirled her around the ballroom when I was tapped on the shoulder.

"May I have a turn?" the bitch said; excuse me I mean Ayame Maya squawked. "And I don't just mean a dance"

* * *

"_W-well It's what she wants…"_

"_That is?"_

"I-I have to break up w-with you"

"_What?"_

"_I know –"_

"_Why do I have to be the one to get dumped?"_

"_Natsu!" _

"_I know, I'm joking, joking!" I said, "Ok, why do we have to break up?"_

"_She hates me," Lucy said simply.._

_Natsu stared at his date dumbfounded, "Ok let me get this straight, Maya wants Layla to break up with Natsu because Maya hates Layla?"_

_Lucy nodded._

"_In what world does that make sense?!"_

"_Oh! And she said you don't deserve someone like me, shabby and plainer and how she's better, prettier and richer"_

_Natsu started to laugh, "Pfft" _

"_What?"_

"_If Layla is considered "Shabby and Plain" then what's Lucy?"_

"_Do you not get the situation?!" Lucy exclaimed._

"_Yes I do, a lot more then you at least. Is there more?"_

"_Yeah, she thinks we're not actually dating and I'm just using you"_

_Natsu processed what she had said, "well she's right but I'd prefer fake dating you then fake dating her"_

"_Fake dating her?"_

"_Yep. Whether or not she actually likes me, she still likes the power, influence and money that comes with me"_

"_You know this how?"_

" _A lot of adults tried paring me with their kid when I was younger and no they didn't just want a play date" Natsu explained, "Anyways it's bad if it gets out that we're only fake dating, and she'll spread if she figures out so we have to do our best to act couple like, no matter what"_

_Natsu stood up from the couch and held out his hand. Lucy took it and they headed back to the ballroom._

"_Common let's go meet my dad"_

* * *

"No, no you cannot" Lucy said firmly, which honestly surprised me.

It felt like sparks were being emitted from the two girls' eyes. Wherever _Layla _got her spunk I'm glad she has it, but sometimes she takes it too far.

"Layla, you really think you're suited for Natsu Dragneel?"

"Don't look down on me!"

"I have every right to," snarled Maya.

"No you don't! You freak!"

"Freak? That's the best you got?" I whispered to Lucy.

"I'm sorry but my mind is drawing blank, she's just pissing me off so much!"

"Calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down"

"Ehem" interrupted Maya, "having a 'fake' lovers-spat right in front of me like I don't exist"

"It's not fake, moron!" Lucy spat.

"Anyone can see it's fake, loser!"

"Loser? I'd win against you in anything, you fugly little ant"

"Fugly: yes, little ant: no" I said out loud as a side note though the two ignored me.

"Fine, both of us will do a fashion spread in next week with a poll of who likes which spread better."

"Fine!"

"No, no don't agree on your own" I said but was still ignored.

"You think your act with Natsu is believable? We'll see, the theme will be first love and Natsu will the man in the photo shoot," Maya continued.

"What?" I yelled.

"Get ready to lose, Layla"

"In your dreams, Maya"

Maya walked away as smugly as possible. Her head high and chin up, her head was practically leaning all the way back.

"That idiot, playing in my domain" Lucy said still piped up from the argument.

"You're the idiot! Why did you agree to that?"

"Because there's no way she's going to win. She started digging her own grave when she said you're going to be the Man" Lucy said confidently, "I'm going to win"

"She's up to something, this entire conversation could have been part of the plan! Stop being stubborn and open your eyes!"

She kicked me in the shin. Clearly it was end of the discussion.

"Drive me home Natsu!"

I guess she got the last kick of the night.

**A/N: So I'm working on the next chapter day in, day out and I promise it will be posted in one week. Why? Why one week? Because in one week it's June 19, 2013 it's Flash's one year anniversary! And I definitely want to celebrate by posting one, even if I have exams… I will make it in time!**

**Frootloop is my creative censor for the F word by the way, or fudge cricket or just the letter F in general,**

**examples: **

**1. Ah Fruitloop! **

**2. You Fudge Cricket!**

**3. F!**

**And it works when you yell or shout at someone. **

**Brought to you by Serullian Life Tips, Life tips that won't ever have any meaning to you nor will you ever use it in real life :9**

**~.x.X.x.~ Serullian Out Peace!**

**Preview for chapter 16:**

Her eyes widened. This wasn't the usual 'oh my god', this was completely, purely, full out 'What The Fuck?'


	16. You're looking green with

**Happy one-year anniversary to Flash! on my clock it's 30 passed twelve (12 in the morning. see, I'm that dedicated) and we're assuming my clock is right!So e****njoy :3**

**Disclaimer: [repeat disclaimer from chapters 1 to 15]**

Chapter 16: You're looking green with…

~Normal POV

Her eyes widened. This wasn't the usual 'oh my god', this was completely, purely, full out 'What The Fuck?'

* * *

Had it been a more stressful week, Lucy would have found herself in the hospital. In fact she did.

Firstly, when Monday came the blonde could immediately tell it was going to be a horrible week. It started off with her waking up late which resulted in being late and because she was late she didn't brush her hair, didn't notice her blouse was inside out and brought the wrong books to school.

Secondly, since she left her books back at her apartment it also included her homework. Every time her teacher checked her homework and she didn't have anything to show, she got gasps, received a disappointed look from her teachers and was recorded that she didn't do her homework.

Thirdly, She had a hell of a lot to study for. Three tests for three very important subjects and two quizzes and not to mention the gigantic pile of homework the teachers had assigned. And she couldn't catch up because of the fourth thing…

Fourthly, her double life just got in the way. The infamous competition between her and Ayame Maya was leaked to the press so whenever she went out as Layla there was paparazzi there to hound her and ask questions. Not to mention regular jobs Layla does weekly.

And oddly enough when Erza and Mirajane found out their reaction was rather bland. There was no screaming of enthusiasm nor was there scolding screaming. There were no words of encouragement such as "do your best" but there weren't any questions concerning her sanity like "are you crazy?!" It weak and meek and there wasn't any life at all and oddly enough very serious.

"Lucy, I have no idea how it got to that point, but now you have to win no matter what" Mirajane said seriously.

"Of course don't worry"

"Lucy we have every reason to worry, you shouldn't be so carefree. There are larger consequences if you lose" Erza told.

"I know but I won't lose! I promise"

"Just know we can't help. This is a matter between you and Maya. Not Us and Maya okay?" Mirajane clarified.

Lucy nodded her pretty little head. In a sense Lucy didn't really want them to help her. She wanted to crush that tramp with her own power and Lucy knew she could do it. Especially since Natsu was her partner and the theme was first love.

Then again in their current situation, neither of them have talked since the dinner. There was Natsu who angry because Lucy did something incredibly stupid again and dragged him along without consultation and there was Lucy who wanted to apologize but was too focused on her four problems to do say sorry. Even her Layla duties didn't involve Natsu, so she couldn't say sorry.

Lucy gave up sleep to study and do homework with a cup of hot coffee always by her side. The homework she didn't do, she asked her friends if she could copy theirs, in other words Levy's.

"Whoa I never thought I'd see the day where Lucy Heartfilllia, honor/ scholarship student of Magnolia high would copy homework"

It was the middle of lunch and Lucy was busy doing her homework and copying other subjects.

"Gray, did you have to make it that dramatic?" Lucy said copying the final answer, "thanks Levy and sorry"

"No problem" Levy said smiling.

"Lucy, Nothing goes on in this school, that's the most drama I'll ever at this school" Gray explained, which resulted in Lucy rolling her eyes.

"Gray do you want drama?" Erza sternly asked.

"No I want something exciting," Gray corrected, "I've already tried picking a fight from pinky and nothing! And you know what? He's actually always on time to class something's up with him"

Though Gray said this as if he wasn't in the room, Natsu was sitting right across from him.

"Look pervert bastard Life is treating me like shit right now," Natsu, snapped _correction Lucy uh Layla…? What?_

"Is it because you don't get to see your gurlfwend?" Gray teased in a baby voice.

"That's so cute!" Levy squealed.

"What!? No!" Natsu protested.

"Don't lie Natsu, I heard from Mira-nee that you wouldn't be able to see Layla-san until Thursday for the competition. Until then, she's too busy" Lisanna said.

_I see her every fucking day; she's just blonde_ Natsu thought. Lucy felt herself shiver. Natsu returned Gray's comment with a smile and said "you're right, I do miss her" and the entire group started to wonder if it was sarcasm. He got up from his seat and left the classroom.

"Natsu where are you going?" Lisanna asked.

"Getting a drink," he shouted.

"Hn, Lucy did you eat?" Levy asked as Lucy frantically shuffled through her papers.

"I only got to eat my fruit cup so far, when I finish these subjects then ill eat it" Lucy said focused on finishing the diagram but pointing at History and Math. "Dammit why do we have so many frigging worksheets for science?"

"Lucy don't overwork yourself"

"Don't worry" and she got back to work, asking questions, doing them herself and copying the repetitive ones.

At the end of lunch, her friends had dispersed to their next classes and she was all alone in the classroom, rushing to pack her subjects up. The door opened for Lucy to see a mane of pink hair.

"Natsu what are you doing here?"

He stared at the multiple subjects she was touching.

"We have science right?" He asked.

"Yeah…"

"Okay" he walked to his desk and pulled out his notebook, "I left it here"

"You better hurry up, or else you'll be late"

"Since when have I ever cared of being late?"

"W-well I mean, you've been on time all week so I figured..."

"I care about school now?" Natsu completed her sentence. She nodded. "Sorry to say but I still don't, it's just that…"

He took a seat in front of her staring at her.

Her head tilted only slightly, "What?"

"Nothing" He said airily.

"I don't get it"

"You weren't supposed to" he got up and left the classroom. She noticed a cold drink on her desk. It was mellow pink with a strawberry on it, "strawberry milk…where did this come from?" she packed her stuff but she was still late in the end.

_Fruit cup and strawberry milk drink, that's a decent lunch_ Lucy thought.

* * *

Lucy passed her English quiz with ease. "Passed" not "did well". She knew she at least got in the eighties. It was suffice to say, English isn't that hard so a quiz was an easy eighty. Anything higher would probably be just luck.

Later that week she received a surprise Japanese quiz and Lucy is Japanese so she didn't stress over it when she was confident enough to get nineties.

But as the week droned on, so did her study habits. She stayed up later then she wanted to and skipped all of lunch to do her homework. She also realized that there was always a drink at the end of lunch next to her subjects.

She didn't talk to Natsu much but since their interaction from before she figured he wasn't as angry as he used to be.

By Friday where normally she would be ecstatic for the end of the week and for the beginning of the weekend, was actually the most stressful day, two tests back-to-back, a history quiz and competition day. Every second she could get she used it to study. Even in classes like English she paid no attention on the assignment paper, instead she looked over science.

By the time it was science she did not feel prepared nor did she feel like passing was an option. Most importantly she felt rather faint. She entered math with a depressing aura and left with the same one just ten times heavier. When it was lunch she didn't talk to anyone, instead Lucy hung out in the infirmary trying to get some sleep but she forced herself to go to her last classes, which included a heavy-duty history test.

Lucy met Natsu at FT Studios where her competitor was already dressed in her outfit. She had blue leggings and green shorts over it. Maya wore gray ankle lace up boots and along her wrists were bunches of bangles and a knitted scarf around her neck. She had a white blouse on and a black blazer with its sleeve rolled up. Lucy also noticed that she was not wearing that smug look she had when she revealed her true character but instead a mature professional smile.

"Layla! Natsu!" Called a voice. A woman ran up to the couple with a huge smile on her face. She had neon orange hair and dark mauve contacts. Her hair was in high bun, wrapped tightly on top of her head. She wore gothic styled clothing, all black with spider webs and chains hanging loose around her waist. She had black chunky boots with buckles and zippers and had a spike necklace and several spiky bracelets.

"Kari!" Lucy said.

"What's up?" Natsu asked.

"I'm extremely happy to work with you, too bad it has to be this type of thing" Kari told them. Kari was a stylist and a clothing coordinator. She chooses the outfits for the photo shoot and has worked with the couple multiple times; too bad she worked underneath the Ayame fashion line. Her style and clothing choice is what Lucy called, "Absolute". They were absolutely stylish and chic and comfortable. Kari's own style however was very unique and changed with her mood, the weather and most importantly the background.

"Look Layla, I'm secretly rooting for you two but I can't play favorites. Okay so you better win"

Kari walked off to prepare Layla's clothes and Natsu's clothes.

"By the way, I'm not going to do anything during the shoot" Natsu warned her, "you and Maya are leading I'm just following along" the way he said it , poked at her curiosity. Normally they both worked together but this time he just declared that he would just adapt and follow. "You want to win on your own power right?"

Lucy nodded.

"Then I wont intervene, that includes Maya also. I'll stop it when I think it should be stopped" he added.

"Ok"

Lucy got dressed in gray skinny jeans with black flats. She had an oversized dark blue cardigan on with a simple white tank top that had the silhouette of a sun and a crescent moon on it. She wore multiple rings and a green beret on her brown hair.

When she got out of the dressing room, she saw Natsu and Maya talking to each other. Had she not disliked Maya with a passion and known Maya's true character and had not been "dating" Natsu, she would have thought that the two look really good together. She mentally slapped herself.

"Get off of me!" Natsu yelled as he tried peeling off the women attached to his arm, "Fuck off Lady! Remember I'm dating someone!"

Maya snickered, "Sweetie, I know a fake couple when I see it"

"Well then get some glasses because you can't see" _Man this girl is good _Natsu Thought.

"Okay then how about if I win the polls you dump little miss ugly for me, dating or fake dating I don't mind if it's you" Maya purred.

"No" and Natsu walked away.

"Whoa this cardigan is huge!" Lucy exclaimed.

"So are your breast Layla," said Kari.

"K-Kari!?"

"Natsu must like them" Kari winked at him where his eyes widened in shock.

"Kari!? Look Kari don't joke like that, it's not funny," He said.

"Oh~ Natsu your shy! That's so cute"

Natsu strolled away and walked into his dressing room to get dressed in the outfit that complimented Lucy since she was going first. The Ayame fashion line was promoting its new "Winter Premier" line.

"You know you're really short" Lucy told Maya out of the blue.

"Excuse me?" Maya demanded.

"I mean I'm wearing flats and your wearing shoes that have somewhat of a lift and I'm just as tall as you" Lucy explained, "and honestly I'm short, most of my friends are all taller then me" Lucy thought back to how Natsu, Erza and Gray were taller then her. Out of everyone Levy and probably Lisanna were shorter then her.

"You have friends?" Maya questioned her uncertainly. Lucy mimicked her with a squeaky tone.

"I don't sound like that"

"You've never heard yourself," was Lucy's reply.

Maya stuck her tongue out and Lucy did the same thing.

"Your very immature, you know that right?" Said Natsu to Lucy.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"You're such idiot" Natsu wore dark jeans, a double weave plaid shirt that contained darker colors also and a black tie. He had gray high tops and a lighter gray colored sweater. He had a black beanie to contrast his pink hair and to Lucy's surprise he looked really good in glasses.

"Layla, Natsu we'll be starting in a few" called the photographer.

"K!" Lucy called out. She took a step and felt the room spin for a fraction of a second, "Whoa!" she shook her head, attempting to remove the feeling but Natsu noticed. He looked at her up and down and finally decided one thing; "You're not doing this photo shoot today"

"Yes I am, do you still think we're going to lose?!"

"It's not that! It's just that you have bags under your eyes and it looks as if you might topple over any second"

"I'm not going to topple over and I'm not going home!" She firmly emphasized the 'not' and looked at him dead straight in the eye.

He sighed, "I just have a very bad feeling"

"And I have a feeling I'm going to win" She smiled, "Don't hold me back now"

"Fine, but by the end of this you better have drank four bottles of water"

"What kind of advice is that? I want to sleep not pee my pants" but Natsu wasn't listening.

"Natsu, Layla I'm secretly routing for you two to win okay. You're both adorable"

"No man wants to be called adorable Kari" Natsu told her.

"Doesn't matter, anyways I gave you guys a library or coffee shop look so play around with that, got it?" Kari finished.

"Yes ma'am" Lucy dragged Natsu to the white background and the flashes commenced.

For Lucy who just wanted to win, did the best she could. They held hands and even hugged a bit for the camera. Natsu of course strayed away after every pose. Lucy did most of the action though; hugging his arm and striking a pose that made it look like she wanted to go to a certain place.

"Y-you look really g-good with glasses…" Lucy said looking away and her embarrassment.

"Oh really?" He said liking what he was hearing. He looked down into her eyes while she looked up. He smiled his signature grin, "Thanks"

She blushed and then looked away, "Don't act all high and mighty, it's Kari who makes you look good!"

"What? I can say the same to you!"

"No you can't I'm a model, remember? I've got natural looks!"

"What am I? Person who stands in front of camera?"

"I'm a professional"

"I make you look better!"

Then again not all first loves work out. Fights arise in love also.

* * *

"Natsu take five and then get dressed in the next outfit," Kari said.

Most of the crew stopped the couple and told them a good job.

"Beat that, Rich snob" Lucy insulted.

"With pleasure ugly tramp," Maya said.

"Attention Whore"

Maya rolled her eyes, "a half assed performance from an _Immature hag_ but that's no surprise. A splendid job from you Natsu" Maya told them.

"Uh …" Natsu honestly didn't know how to answer to that.

"Disagree with her!"

"Layla calm down. Sit and drink some water"

"No way, I'm fine. I'm not going to rest until I win"

"Urgh that's troublesome" He walked away to get changed.

"It's so easy to trick idiots," Maya laughed snidely "Well the way things turned out is a lot better I suppose"

"What are you talking about?"

"Originally my parents were just going force Natsu to do a photo shoot with me, but after I win no one's going to want to see Layla and Natsu together. And you're going to lose all your pride when you lose since Natsu's _your _boyfriend"

"For the last time you're not going to win! It's _because_ Natsu's my boyfriend that I will" Lucy spouted with the up-most confidence.

"You guys are very persistent about your fake couple act"

"We're not a fake couple!"

Maya shrugged not believing a word Lucy had said, "Besides, I've a got secret weapon that will make me win" Maya admitted.

"What?"

"You'll have to wait and see"

"Wait! What are you going to do? You can't do anything against the rules!" Lucy exclaimed suddenly nervous but still determined.

Maya smirked evilly, "what rules?" she said licking her lips.

Natsu's new outfit contained a green v-neck t-shirt with a dark gray vest. He wore black pants and a brown leather belt. He had the same style of hi-tops from before only these were dark blue. He had a checkered scarf and a leather bracelet.

"Okay you guys have that 'after dinner, walk around town, maybe even picnic' look" Kari told the pair.

There was a lot of hand holding and conversing in the pictures and Lucy smirked and confidently thought she already won. She felt stupid for thinking that whatever Maya's secret weapon was could possibly be a threat to winning.

Maya wrapped herself around Natsu's arm and to Lucy Natsu seemed a lot more natural then he is with her.

_I guess that makes sense. Even if I wear a wig it's still Lucy and Natsu and that pair doesn't work._

She felt her stomach churn the more she saw Natsu and Maya together. Natsu was always adept at adapting and acting for that matter, did he have to do it so well?

_They actually look like a couple… no shut up Lucy! Get a hold of yourself this is just for work._

Maya put the back of her hand on Natsu's lips so it looked like he was kissing her hand like a gentleman.

_What is she doing! _Lucy angrily thought.

But Natsu made no effort to repel and he showed no sign of resentment.

Natsu what are you doing? If I had done that you spit it out and say that it's disgusting. Lucy huffed and took a deep breath, what is wrong with me tonight?

She felt the room spin so she headed off to get a water bottle when she came back she saw Natsu wrapping himself around the small aggravating rich snob.

"What the hell are you doing Natsu!?" She yelled.

Everyone in the room looked at her and Lucy realized what she did.

"Excuse me, Layla I didn't interrupt you, please don't interrupt me" Maya spat with the room agreeing. She smiled and "it's all going according to plan" written on her face.

"Layla, its work remember" Natsu said walking over to her, "What are you doing it'll look bad if you do that again" he whispered to her.

"I know I just couldn't help myself"

"Go sit over there, you're looking paler"

"I'm not paler!" She protested.

"Why are you so against someone telling you what's best for you?!"

"It's not best for me, you just don't want me yelling again"

"I'm worried"

"Oh yeah, Natsu worried about me. That's a good one," She said sarcastically.

"Whatever, I give up!" He said angrily walking away. The photo shoot resumed and the intimacy between Maya and Natsu continued. Lucy felt the water bottle in her hands being crushed and the angrier she got when she watched them.

_What is wrong with me?_

She felt the room spin once again and decided to sit down. From her seat, she still had a great view of the performance Maya was giving, unfortunately. Lucy drank some water and closed her eyes. She heard whistling and cheering and when she took a peak Maya was flushed red and Natsu looked very confused.

"Again!"

"Further!"

"Woohoo!" The workers cheered.

Maya wrapped her arms around his neck but since she was short she stood on her tippy toes. "Shall we?" she grinned.

"Don't do Maya" Natsu warned her trying to push her off.

"It's for work. Right?"

Lucy got up and got closer, still confused on why everyone was cheering. She got up to the computer and saw the most recent taken photo: a kiss on the cheek.

When it clicked to her that Maya had kissed her boyfriend, Lucy dropped her water bottle. She was about to spaz when she saw something even more horrifying.

Maya kissed Natsu on the lips.

Her eyes widened. This wasn't the usual 'oh my god', this was completely, purely, full out 'What The Fuck?'

The room spun twice before it went black.

**A/N: I am pumped for the summer. In my opinion 16 chappies is… Rukia's Harem XD I mean 16 chappies for my first story is great and all the support I receive is even more amazing. Thank you. **

**See you later. R&R though you've (probably, most likely, hopefully) did the first R.**

**Serullian, Cheers***


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